marketing

Funny Marketing Video! 75,329 views viral!

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:53:48 +0100

That's all for this post folks! So, don't bother continue reading, because I just don't know how to get rid of the "continue reading" message.

5 Easy Lessons About Marketing, Tactics & Life

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:20:58 +0100

In marketing as in life, don't forget to have a little fun and enjoy life, because if we aren't having a good time, why are we doing this? If you're not having fun, you're not going to get anywhere in life, whether it be in business, money, love or happiness.

As the head of Governors Island, Leslie Koch put a forgotten little 172-acre island off the coast of Manhattan on the cultural map.

In just a few years, she increased visits to the island from 8,000 people to over 275,000 and got the city of New York onboard with ambitious development plans, including a potential NYU satellite campus.

So how did the former Microsoft exec do it? Koch shared these five simple lessons on marketing, strategy, and life at Behance’s annual 99% Conference:

1. Listen – really listen – to your customers.

Truth is, many of us are guilty of either not really listening to what people are saying about our products, or of discounting their honest feedback (they’re not smart enough, they just don’t “get it,” etc.). Particularly in marketing and sales, it’s easy to fall into the trap of getting so excited about pitching the product that we fail to take in the body language of the people we are talking to.

Koch tells a story of feedback falling on deaf ears during her time at Microsoft. In the early development stages of “Word,” she questioned how challenging the product was to use. The response from a software developer? “Uh, user error.” But the product wasn’t being made for software developers, it was being made for non-software savvy people with word processing needs. And, in fact, it took two more versions of development before Microsoft Word was ready for market, and ready for the general user.

2. Understand the customer, the product, and the market.

If you’re managing a product, you need to know who the customer is, what their needs are, what the product does, and what the market is. You also need to be incredibly honest with yourself about the true strengths and weaknesses of your product.

Koch describes how, on Governors Island, they initially thought that their customer was the organizations that would make their home on the island. But they quickly realized that the true customer was the larger public, the City of New York.

Identifying the real customer – city inhabitants rather than developers – allowed the Governors Island team to revise the problem they needed to address. It wasn’t – as they’d previously thought – how much it would cost one of the organizations to rent a building. Rather, the problem was how to make people believe it was worth traveling from the city to a small island inaccessible by taxi or subway.

3. Develop a strategy and stick to it. BUT make sure your mother can understand it.

Once you’ve identified your true customer – and only then – you can develop a realistic strategy. The first part of Koch’s strategy for luring New York City inhabitants to Governors Island revolved around answering the question: “What can you do on the island that you can’t do anywhere else?” The unexpected (and surprising) answer was: Play a miniature golf course designed by artists. It’s unique, it’s free, and it attracts people from all walks of life. But more importantly, it’s emblematic of a whole host of activities that you can do only on the island.

Yet, as important as having the right strategy is making sure that absolutely everyone in your organization understands it. What’s more, it should be a strategy that anyone – even your mother – can understand.

It’s easy for businesses to fall into using a vocabulary that’s completely self-referential. But ultimately, the wider world will be using our products and services. The ideal strategy allows us to use the same words when we talk to each other internally that we use when we talk to our customers externally.

4. Think big and act small.

Don’t be afraid to think big. At the same time, don’t let planning get in the way of doing. Make sure you’re taking the small actions every single day to push your product forward – and make sure that they map to the strategy you’ve laid out.

If everyone from the head honcho on down understands the strategy, even the small actions count. As Koch notes, when the janitor on Governors Island picks up a piece of trash, he’s not just blindly doing his job – he’s fulfilling part of the strategic plan to make the island into a world-class park.

5. Marketing is all.

Marketing is the act of trying to figure out what motivates people – and it’s embedded in our DNA. Rather than being an afterthought, it should be a driving factor behind our companies, our visions, and our products. If we aren’t mapping our products to how people work and think, we won’t achieve anything.

I strongly suggest you download the free, New Economy Superstar, bellow as a PDF download without any sign-ups, opt-ins or obligations. Just right click on "save as" to your computer and enjoy it. If this book won't put a few things in perspective, nothing will.

Written By: Thomas A. Retterbush

Marketing's Great Secret

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:10:11 +0100

Do you know what the best type of Marketing is for your company?

How about a Yellow Pages advert? Pay per click? Maybe some direct mail followed up a telemarketing campaign?

Well whilst each of these are perfectly valid marketing routes and one's any forward thinking company should at least test the very best type of marketing for all types of business is the type that is FREE!!!

That's right Ladies and Gentlemen, if you're working with a tight marketing budget (or indeed with no set marketing budget at all) then you can now get exposure for your product, service or company in the form of PR (or Public Relations).

For large companies PR is big business. They will think nothing of employing staff with the sole intention of getting the name of their company in the media (be it written press, television, radio or online). And because the PR market is seemingly dominated by the larger companies small companies shy away from using PR in their marketing mix.

If this applies to you then good times could well be ahead as PR is a vital part of the marketing mix for smaller companies in particular as they often don't have the time or money to spend on often expensive advertising or other marketing.

Successful businesses of all sizes use PR to promote their business, build their reputation and become a recognised expert in their particular field. And the beauty of PR is that everyone is an expert in something. And by passing on your expertise in a particular subject in the right way you become newsworthy.

And that is the real secret when it comes to good PR. It has to be interesting and newsworthy. Nobody cares that you've just launched a new website or that Mrs Jones in Accounts has just become a Grandmother for the second time (both subjects I've seen in press releases and both subjects I've seen in journalist's bins!!). And if you've ever attempted PR only not to have it published then I wouldn't worry too much about it as you're amongst the 99% of companies who send out PR that isn't newsworthy or interesting.

Here are a few words on Why PR is important.

Communication lies at the heart of today's modern society. Be it on the internet, television, pod casts or whatever medium you choose. And with so many firms competing for the same business as you, how do your customers differentiate between you and your competitors?

The answer lies not particularly in the size of your Yellow Pages advert but how you project yourself and what your firm has to offer.

PR has a huge sway in the minds of consumers as the perceived third party endorsement that comes from editorial coverage can be substantial, maybe even more so than advertising that can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds.

PR done well can result in increased exposure, increased business and increased profits. And if you want your business to be the best it can be then becoming good at PR is something you want to do.

And remember, it's FREE!!!!

Written By: The Marketing Buzz

About the Author: The Marketing Buzz are Small Business Marketing Experts and offer all types of Marketing Services to Help You Grow Your Business.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/marketings-greatest-secret-292645.html

I posted this article because it took off right where I left off with my last article, How to Inspire People to Happily Spread Your Ideas, Products and Services, and which leads me right back to my original recomendations; David Meerman Scott's books, 3 of which you can download bellow for free. Do yourself and your business a favor, download them, read them and study them.

How to Initiate Triggers that Compel People to Happily Spread Your Ideas

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:40:30 +0100

The humorous picture above beautifully illustrates my piont, of how an idea can quickly travel from mouth to mouth, until it become viral and looses all control and.

Seemingly overnight, David Meerman Scott created the “World Wide Rave”, when collectively, a product, a brand or you are instantly known all over the world.

However the World Wide Rave has been around long before Mr. Scott was even born. It’s just that up to now, it was known as viral marketing.

Whether you call it a World Wide Rave or viral marketing, most of the time it happens by accident. Yet, what if you could create one? It would change everything!

We are lucky. We are living in an age where anyone can reach everyone in the world directly. Today the technology exists so that without spending a fortune on advertising or public relations to influence the media to report about us, our products or services.

One observable fact of the Internet is that when an idea takes off, it can push a person, product or company to fame and fortune overnight. Free.

Creating a World Wide Rave, which I prefer to call a viral marketing publicity stunt, where other people spread your story for you, is the quickest way to become rich and famous, period. One person spreads it to the next, then that person spreads it to yet another, and so on. It’s almost like a virus.

Each connection extends your story to a new person, someone you never would have contacted yourself! It's like a concert and somebody starts to applaud. Soon everybody is clapping. It’s viral.
Viral Marketing Rules

Nobody (but you) cares

People today are very egotistical and selfish. People only care about themselves. All they want is something to make them happy and ways to solve their problems. To persuade people to talk or write about you, your company, product or ideas, you must not glorify yourself. Do not try to buildup your company, product or ideas. You need to create something remarkable and attention-grabbing that will generate buzz online. Don't worry about selling or making money, seeing as once you become famous, people will trip over themselves to buy, rent, lease, beg, borrow or steal what you are offering.

No high-pressure tactics

Throughout history, companies have spent big bucks on marketing intended to intimidate people into buying. New and improved! Better! Stronger! Faster! Longer lasting! You name it! This is not how you get people to spread your message. It’s when you have something of value, something that will help enjoy themselves, people feel better or solve a problem that you get them talking.
Lose control.

You don’t need lists, opt-ins or even addresses or phone numbers. You need to make your valuable substance free, freely available and shareable. You must comprehend that something viral is not about leads. It’s about ROI, or Return On Investment.

Create triggers

It’s just like getting followers on Twitter. To get followers you must follow people first. To get a trophy you’ve got to participate in something.

If you want to spread the word, you need to get involved in forums and online communities to get in touch with the people who enthusiastically share.

When you have created valuable, funny, interesting commendable or even shocking, it's geared up to go viral. Now all you need to do is pull the trigger to get people talking. And while they are talking, they will produce all kinds of buzz. In no time it will be all over the search engines. The best way to drive people to your business by way Google, Yahoo or Bing is to create something viral. A World Wide Rave if you will.

The end result will be your Web sites quickly rising to the top of page #1 of every single search engine. Oh, and you becoming rich and famous.

I strongly suggest you read all 3 of David Meerman Scott's books,The New Rules of PR, The New Rules of Viral Marketing and Lose Control of Your Marketing, as well as The New Economy Superstar, by Corbett Barr, all of which I have available for you as free PDF downloads bellow. No sign-up, no opt-in, no obligations, no kidding, just click on "save as" to your computer and "wallah", it's yours.

To your success!

Enjoy.