The end result of this is that we end up doing more marketing “experiments” than we do “scalable marketing” activities. But what if we stopped looking for “new” and started looking for “successful”. When we start making this slight distinction, it opens up a realm of possibilities we ignored before.

Instead of looking outside our organization or realm of knowledge, it opens up the possibility of looking internally at past activities. This is valuable because you have the data to measure success of YOUR activities, but you need to generate it for any “new” activities.

You can now look at which areas you had success and ask yourself these four questions:

1. What marketing activities have we done that were “successeful”?

2. How can we make them better?

3. How can we track their “performance metrics” to evaluate their “success”?

4. What level of performance determines “success”?

There are many more questions you could ask yourself or your team to dig deeper into these areas, but this is a start.

The goal of this exercise is not to do more, but to do less more effectively. To illustrate how this works, lets examine two scenarios:

1. You look for a “new” marketing strategy based on new outsider knowledge (i.e. gathered at a conference or via the web).
- You spend $1,290 for a conference and 3 days out of the office. (3 days plus travel)
-You brainstorm for 2 weeks with sales ops, IT, on how to execute the strategy. (10 days)
- You setup a new process and systems to track results that takes another two weeks. (10 days)
-You run a test, but you have no “baseline” to compare it to to determine success.

All together you spend almost a month working to get results that “might” prove to be of value, but you have no way to prove it.

Scenario 2: You improve an internal strategy
- You gather data on the previous marketing campaign to create a “baseline” of performance. (2 days)
- You weight this strategy vs any other internal options you have (1 day).
- You brainstorm ways to improve the best internal strategy and set up a target performance level for “success” (1 day)
- Using the same metrics from the previous marketing strategy you set up a pilot test. (1-2 days).
- You run the pilot and compare results to your “baseline” to see if there was an improvement. (2 days)

All in all, you spend 8 working days and end up with a truly “measurable” strategy that you can tweak and retweet until you decide you can improve it no further.

The big Takeaway?
Don’t overlook what is right in front of you as you search for the “magic button” of marketing success.

Now I am not suggesting you abandon the search for new ideas. I am simply suggesting you focus your ideas where they can be easily measured, easily evaluated, and easily implemented.

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We have seen many signals that Social Media & Technology is becoming less “Open” over the last 12 months. Whether it was the recent abandonment of Google Maps from Apple Devices in iOS6 or the discontinuation of mobile clients for Twitter access, all things seem to be heading in the same direction…..closed. In fact, all the game changing technologies that spawned behemoth social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter seem to be jockeying for position in the new media age. Does this mean that we will see less “open” social networks and a return to the old days of trying to control the media.

Twitter Announces Photo Filters added to their Mobile Apps

To most people, the recent announcement of photo filters being added to the mobile Twitter Apps is inevitable. This feature will allow users to quickly add stylized images and upload them to Twitter. To others this, myself included, this seems to be signifying a trend toward consolidation of social networks and new media technologies. Social networking site are all vying for our time and because of this we have seen many decisions on sites like Twitter and Facebook to provide “all in one” solutions to social media users desires.

Twitter has been making a habit of this in fact over the past year. Twitter seems to be alienating their “open access” policies that once gave structure and purpose to their service in the early days. Twitter was originally a tool that was searching for a problem. Twitter was a micro-blogging site that went mainstream once they opened themselves up to third party developers. We quickly saw a vast use of Twitter for site logins, sharing buttons, mobile twitter Client apps, and tons of other uses.

Twitter has now been slowly trying to eliminate access and retain control over their users data. It first started when Twitter began launching integrations for photo uploading first popularized by Twitpic founder Noah Everett. Twitpic opened the use of Twitter to a new dimension and Twitter realized the potential the service presented. The next signal came when Twitter announced that it was limiting access to their data and the apps that could be created. On top of that, Twitter eliminated the name of the app that posts a message to the site (i.e. via Hootsuite). This was the main way that users learned about new Twitter apps.

Now it seems that Twitter will gobble up yet another popular user feature, Photo Filters. I am not saying that what Twitter is doing is wrong, in fact I think it is logical. What I am saying is that people should be prepared for the mass consolidation of Social Media and new media in the coming years. Be sure you host all your content on your site or they might just change their terms of service and erase all your hard work.

What do you think? Is Twitter moving innovation forward or are we moving back to the old days of “closed” networks?

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The simple answer is that some content is just more social than others. To make your content more social (meaning more shareable) you need to understand why people share content. Here are the top three reasons and how to adjust your content to be more social.

Top 3 Reasons Why Social Media Users Share Content?

1. To Be perceived as an Expert

Most people share content because they want to be seen as an expert authority on a topic. For example, my content is shared by thousands of marketers every month so that they can be seen as authority figures. It shows their audience or customer that they are staying current with market trends.

How do we make our customers look like experts?
One way to be sure you are doing this is by making your topic about the reader. Make it focused on a solution to a problem that your customer is facing. Be free with your knowledge and don’t make it sales focused. (This will create a huge amount of goodwill for you, trust me!)

2. To “Break” a story and be in the know

We all want to be on the “inside” or on the know. Remember when you were a teenager and you wanted to be the first person to tell your friends about that great new band? You did it because of the “status” that goes along with being the first to know something. This is the same reason people gossip.

As we get older the topic changes from bands to industry events, politics, or any number of other topics, but the concept is the same. We want to be a trend setter or at minimum not left behind.

How do you leverage the need to know?
The obvious way is to look for changes in your industry to chronicle. You could cover am upcoming industry event or recap a past event. Or perhaps there are new products being released in your market. Try to find a time sensitive topic and write about it with your angle in mind. What do your customers care about with respect to the topic? Don’t just say there is an event, comment on the topic and why it is new and exciting. Find ways to make it relevant and fresh.

Another way is to tie your topic into a current event. For example, if you own a mold remediation company or product maker for that market you could comment on the recent Hurricane Sandy and how homeowners can begin the cleanup or perform it safely. Or perhaps go over the risks of letting a flood go untreated in Nj weather.

3. Because they are inspired

This is a topic I love to talk about. Your goal in any piece of content is to inspired your customer to take action and share your content. Your goal is to inspire them to keep reading, to discuss the topic later, to believe in you and your authority on your topic.

How do we inspire?
We tell the truth even when it is not popular. We share our story or the story of someone who has gone through the process or used the product that we are discussing. We learn through stories. Find the story or create a fictitious character to illustrate this.

Testimonials are also a short story about one persons experience. Use these to build a story for your reader. Make them a believer and they will share your story.

4. It’s just good old fun!

Entertainment value is still huge for content consumers and is becoming even more important. People are publishing huge amounts of information online and the consumer is being blasted by this. If they are going to invest any time consuming your content then it sure as heck better be a good read.

How to leverage this?
First and foremost, be yourself!!!! Let your personality shine through. If you are funny, be funny. If you are serious, be that way. You should know out audience and understand how they want to receive information. Be creative in how you create your content. Try to use a combination of videos and images that are compelling.

Also understand that you don’t have to create all your content. Run a contest for video or photo submissions from your audience on a topic related to your business.

AllthingsJeep.com did this well when they chose to run a Facebook campaign called “Go Topless Day” for Jeep owners to submit photos of their Jeep vehicle with the top off.

Remember that your job is to facilitate a conversation, not to do all the talking.

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Thanks for installing the Bottom of every post plugin by Corey Salzano. Contact me if you need custom WordPress plugins or website design.

I am an idea man. My mind is programmed to constantly be interpreting the world around me and generating new ideas from seemingly unrelated concepts (I.e. I think about weird combinations of things to draw inspiration from). Not all my ideas are practical or interesting to me, but many times they hold great value for those in other businesses. The creative process is the most valuable part of my non-stop idea factory of a mind. For years I had assumed this skill was a bad thing. I had been taught that you needed to find one thing and stick to it until the end. This was true for me in certain areas (I.e. my overall career path), but in my day to day people would get bored by my relentless pursuit of new ideas and information. This idea craze I had been in all my life was holding me back or so I thought…

The Big Shift

…Recently my wife was in a training for her company’s Six Sigma (Black Belt Program), which teaches leadership skills, management principles, and process excellence tools that the individual is required to use to save the company $1M through improving a major process. Now why did I explain all that? I did so because my life changed from one conversation with my wife on what she learned in her class. This is a person I had been with for over a decade whom I have had many life changing experiences with, but never expected to have such a powerful and earth shattering conversation that would change me to my core.

What was so special about this conversation? It had to do with learning profound insights about individual behaviors, management styles, and personality types. She was able to explain these concepts to me in an hour in such an amazing way that I now was armed with new tools to understand my own abilities, shortcomings, and interactions with others. How you ask? Well for starters, I had been viewing my passion for ideas as a bad thing. I had thought it was something that needed to be hidden as others can be off put by my tendency to make decisions and move onto new issues/solutions quickly. Instead she made me realize that my dominant trait in most cases is what is called a Plant. This is the idea person on a team that offers many solutions to overcome obstacles and is not afraid to throw out new solutions to problems even if they may be perceived as being dumb.

Know Your Personality Traits

She also made me realize that there are other traits required on a team and that people can have more than one trait. These traits can also change depending on the team and group dynamic. For example I can tend to be a shaper (the engineering side of me) when I am on a team with other Idea people. Shapers are individuals who drive action, push to get things done, and add boundaries to keep the team on task. They can sometimes be viewed as the NO person as they are trying to keep people on task. These individuals are not always well liked as it can rub people the wrong way when they push to assign and complete tasks to get the job done. This is an odd combination as I can vary between the idea creator and the idea squasher depending on what the team needs.

These same skills apply to a family dynamic outside of work. Have you ever seen the guy who is so driven inside work, but then needs to be pushed to get things done at home? That guy is me! This is because my wife has the skills and traits that I rely on subconsciously at home.

What is the point?

Now why is all this important? Because with this newfound information you are empowered to create the perfect team. If you know your dominant trait you can assemble a team that complements you (with their skills, not on your outfit!). This means you will create a better product, service, company, family, etc. You can also be aware of what skills are required for you to succeed in a role. If you are aware of all the traits you can then identify them in others and learn the best way to resolve conflict with those individuals or inspire them to perform at a higher level.

Remember that the goal of all of this is to learn about people and how to get the best out of people to help them grow. This is a mutually beneficial effort because by empowering your employees or coworkers you are in turn going to receive higher quality work and higher engagement from that person.

If you had questions or are interested in one on one coaching to uncover the potential profit potential in your business, please contact me via email at Keith *at* SimpleMediaMarketing.com or by tweeting me @MrSimpleMedia

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It is my birthday today and it has been an amazing day, but no day is complete without a good ol blogpost for my loyal fans. Today I wanted to talk about expectations. Specifically about setting and exceeding expectations with your marketing.

An Example of Brilliant Marketing

The truth behind this is that Brendan know’s the power of providing incredible value and sharing a valuable message. He then gets you into his sales funnel and you a pre-sold on any product he offers you. He has built credibility by showcasing the quality and value he provides in his book. He also knows that he can make 2 to 3 times the cost of the book in one simple informational training.

The Simple Media Marketing Takeaways

1. Know Your Customers Expectations & Frustrations

Be sure to survey the experience your customers receive in similar situations from your competition. Then note the pain points about the experience. What annoys you about the experience? Are the promises in the ad vague so yo don’t know what to expect? Is the content delivered difficult to navigate? Is the content different than what the title leads you to believe?

2. Find creative ways to provide value

Don’t just rely on meeting your customers expectations to be enough, although it is usually a lot more than others are doing in your space. Instead, at the pain points you identified, provide extra value. This can be in the form of free information, free products, free services, or just a really cool user experience. What ever you decide, execute beautifully.

3. Be sure to follow up with customers

You spend a lot of time finding new customers, but your true value is retaining your existing ones. Instead of forgetting about your customers once they join your email list or make a purchase, find more ways to add value and make them feel special. Especially in unexpected ways!

Join the mailing list below and let me try to add value to your marketing with my Simple Media Marketing tips.

Leave a comment. How have you have received unexpected value in your lives?

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In the marketing world we all want act as if their is a secret formula that only we know for success. In fact, this is the same false belief that holds back a lot of the business owners I work with when it comes to their marketing efforts. They are usually afraid to do something wrong or that it will be ineffective, so they wait until the “right” method comes along.

The Secret to Marketing Your Business Online

The truth is that even I don’t know the secret to marketing your business (I know it shocks you to hear that I don’t know something….just kidding). As a marketer, I only know what has worked for others and can make an educated guess on what to try first. Marketing techniques and strategies are mere opinions of what might work, not a guarantee of success. It all depends on your customer, market, unique selling proposition, and a host of other variables. The only thing to know for sure is that we are sure of nothing.

Where Should You Start with Marketing Your Business Online

The above information shouldn’t sound discouraging, but rather empowering. Knowing that there is no wrong answer means that we have the freedom to experiment without fear.

How do we get started using this new found power? Use the steps below as a guide (remember you are free to do as you decide.

1. Make a list of what you do to market your business now

Perhaps you are already blogging, or using Facebook, or even doing print ads in a local newspaper. Whatever the methods you are using to expose your business to customers. I want you to capture what it is, how long it takes, how often you do it, and how you track your results (if at all).

It is important to be aware of current processes whether you are a big firm or a small one man business. The goal of this exercise is to understand where you in your marketing so we can determine what small changes you can make to improve your efforts.

Remember that we want to augment your efforts, not replace them. You are more likely to succeed if your new marketing efforts do not greatly alter your current routine.

2. Examine Your List Critically

Now that you have a list of activities you perform or pay someone to perform to market your business, I want you to get critical. Look at your list and ask yourself the following qustions for each item:

• Am I performing this task the best I know how or am I only half committing

Small business owners often try one method and then give up before they get it off the ground or they only partially commit. The end result is a poor execution of a good idea.

• How many customers is this task driving? Do I really know how many new customers I have received using this method?

Here we are trying to determine if the task is worth doing. If you currently don’t know how many new customers you are getting, you will need to determine a way to track it. For example, a coupon code can be used to track the number of people responding to your print ads. or bit.ly, google analytics, or other free software can track visitors to your site.

• Is this task taking up too much time? Is there any way you could automate or make the process simpler?

Many times there are ways you can make a task easier. For example, you could use an automated tool to monitor your Facebook page and only alert you via text when a user comments on a post. Or perhaps could use a smartphone to upload videos to twitter for new products you create.

• Am I being consistent with this task and Am I doing this task enough during the course of a day, week, month to make it effective?

If not, write down what frequency you think the task would need to be effective. This will allow you to determine whether you can commit.

3. Eliminate Wasteful Tasks

Take a look at the list you created above to determine your tasks that should be eliminated. The tasks that have poor results or take too much time (and can’t be automated or simplified) are the first ones to go. Second tier tasks are those that you feel would require too much commitment for you to execute properly. Don’t throw out poor performers that you didn’t commit to or execute properly as you may be able to still produce results with a little bit more effort.

The other thing to note is that when you are looking at your list is whether there are just too many tasks. Sometimes we try to do too much as marketers and this can prevent us from going deep with successful efforts. I would rather see excellent execution of one marketing effort than see dozens of poorly executed tasks.

4. Find ways to improve Top Performers

Now that you have freed up some time by eliminating wasteful tasks, you should look into how you can make the top performers better. Can you spend more time on one of your tasks to make the end result better? Can you automate or simplify the process to free up time for other activities?

If you find that you are doing things perfectly, ask yourself if there is a way you can add another small task to augment those efforts. For example, you could record yourself reading your blog posts on your computer And upload them, as a podcast onto podomatic.com (puts them onto iTunes and podomatic site). You could then take the same audio and offer it as a download on your website in exchange for an email address.

Once you have done the above exercise you. A feel free to experiment to your hearts content and don’t be afraid of doing something wrong. It is not about what other people do to be successful, it is about how you can bring in one more customer. Spend your time wisely and it won’t matter what anyone else is doing.

For more tips on how to simplify your marketing, grab my free report at www.SimpleMediaMarketing.com/21Tips/ or tweet me @MrSimpleMedia with questions.

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It is no secret that people are sending less mail than ever before. The USPS has a sneaky little way to get people to send more mail. They are using the principles of Content Marketing to entice marketers to send more mail without them even knowing it!

How you ask? They are highlighting the success stories of Direct mail marketers in a printed “magazine” called “Deliver”. The magazine is sent out 6 times a year to marketers in order to convince them to send more direct mail advertising.

The interesting thing is that the magazine is actually quite valuable. The content is well written in an editorial format and has a lot of unique content. When I first read the issue you see above, I had no idea it was not a real subscription based magazine.

What Lessons Can We Learn From the USPS?

1. Content about and for your customers is better than any sales pitch or Advertising

Use this to your advantage when creating content. How can you help the reader achieve their goals? How can You provide solutions in a new and useful way. Focus on the facts and put them in a story format. Show successes alongside facts and figures.

2. Keep Your Content Entertaining

The USPS mag is entertaining to read and not just a brochure. Focus on your customers, but be sure to write in a personal and fun tone when possible. Be sure to add relevant graphics to keep visual interest.

3. Find a unique way to Present your Content

The way USPS chose to present their content was unique and engaging. The magazine format not only proved their point about direct mail (by actually being direct mail), but it was I’m a format not traditionally used for advertising. Being different yet familiar goes a long way with your customer.

4. Target the right customer with your Content

One of the most interesting things about the magazine format was that they chose to target marketers in order to increase the amount of mail they send.

They could have tried to target consumers about sending more letters or billing companies to send more bills by mail, but they didn’t. They chose a target market that could potentially send a huge amount of mail. One marketer could send thousands of pieces of mail a month. This sure beats the one card I mailed to my mom for her birthday!

5. Send the right Message to the right Customer

When choosing your audience you need to make sure you are targeting the right customer and solving their most pressing need. This in turn solves your own objective. The USPS wanted to marketers to send more mail and marketers want to get more customers to see their message.

They also know that marketers want a better Return on Investment for their marketing dollars than the current marketing methods they are using. USPS makes use of that fact by writing articles focused on the increased ROI of direct mail.

Now that you know what Content Marketing can do for the US Postal Service, how are you going to use content in your marketing?

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How to use IF THIS THEN THAT (ifttt.com) to build Twitter Lists

1. Go to www.IFTTT.com and set up an account



2. Create a New Task



3. Click THIS when You see the Formula for Your Task



4. Select Twitter from the List

It will ask you to link your twitter account to allow it to access your Twitter profile if not already linked.



5. Choose “New Tweet from Search”



6. Enter Your Term you want to search for (I.e. Mountain Biking)



7. Select THAT from your task formula



8. Choose Twitter Again for Your THAT so we can create a list on Twitter



9. Choose “Add user to a List” as your action



10. Click Create to accept the “recipe”



11. Give your List a Descriptive but short name (I.e. Mountain Bikers)



Now you will have a list that is automatically updated with users who share the keyword. You can then go back and tweet to those users as you see fit. The users will also more than likely chec out your bio and click your website link in your bio. This can drive some extra traffic and help you discover other users who are interested in your topic.

Have you used Ifttt.com? What creative things have you used it for?

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]]> http://www.SimpleMediaMarketing.com/simple-how-to-drive-a-traffic-with-twitter-lists-and-ifttt-com/feed/ 0 http://www.SimpleMediaMarketing.com/go-from-a-nobody-to-a-ny-timea-best-seller-with-laser-focus/ http://www.SimpleMediaMarketing.com/go-from-a-nobody-to-a-ny-timea-best-seller-with-laser-focus/#comments Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:09:57 +0000 Keith Griffis http://www.SimpleMediaMarketing.com/?p=425 You want to be a best seller? A speaker? How about just a success in your industry? It all starts with laser focus. I will show you a great example of this that will take you 5 minutes and increase your results 10x.

I was on Twitter today on my iPhone and ran across a fellow named Shep Hyken (@Hyken). The first thing that struck me was that his Twitter profile was direct and to the point, but also intertwined what he does, his accomplishments, the promise of what he will deliver (amazing customer service), and provide a link to his website www.Hyken.com.

When I clicked the link, the next thing that stood out was that he had a mobile optimize website (ie a site that appeared properly on a mobile phone). What was even more impressive though, was the laser-like focus of the mobile site. It focused on doing 1 thing really well! The sole purpose of his site is to get you to book him for a speaking gig.



His site starts with a video highlighting his speaking ability and topic. It even tells the viewer what the length of the clip is so that they know what to expect.

The site then answers the next question logical question. What topics can he speak about? It does this by providing a list of topics with descriptions.

The next question a reader asks is, can he speak on other topics? And the answer is yes! He adds text letting the reader know that he can mix these topics or customize any talk.

The final questions readers have are credibility questions. Why should we hire him as our speaker? He supports this with his apps, books, and a quick bio highlighting his most credible achievements.

What are the takeaways?
1. Focus your site on 1 purpose and hammer that home.
Don’t try to put everything out there. He could have tried to push his books or trainings, but instead he added those in as credibility boosters.

2. Ask yourself what questions users will have and in what order and answer them in that order.
Do what Shep does by leading them through the thought process and answer the common questions up front.

3. Mobile sites are a must!
I never would have stayed on his site if it were not mobile optimized. With the increasingly mobile social media users you must be mobile to capture that traffic.

4. Graphics matter! Good design is good business.
This is a no brainer. We make subconscious inferences on people and brands based on appearances whether we like it or not.

5. Video is the best medium to spread a message about yourself or your brand.
The video allows us to see him in action, understand his personality, and it adds a lot of subconscious information that we need and don’t get from text alone.

These are a few simple tips on how to achieve laser focus in your business and website. Get out there and get focused!

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