The Basics

• Be clean.
• No clutter. Keep everything that doesn’t add to a consistent brand image hidden. Simple is good.
• The exterior is just as important as the interior. Keep the landscaping up. Maintain the building and parking lots well. Better than most businesses.

Do you know of an organization that does a particularly good or bad job with this? Tell us in the comments.

1. It’s still marketing
2. Expect conversations on difficult issues
3. Regular updates  are key, so plan accordingly

It’s still marketing

Social media is new, exciting and sometimes intoxicating. Before you jump in remember, the fundamentals of marketing still apply. You must still be able to answer:

• What is my goal or objective?
• Who is my audience?
• What message am I trying to convey?
• What tactic is going to be most effective?

What can happen is that because it’s new and cool you think you need to join in.  However, just because Twitter is in the news right now doesn’t mean it’s a solution to your problems. Social media isn’t a case of “if you build it, they will come.” Start with the basics and look to see if social media tactics are right for your situation.

Expect conversations on difficult issues

Be prepared to talk about the weaknesses or difficult issues of your organization or product. Social media creates a town hall atmosphere where critics are certain to voice their opinions. It’s more productive to allow these opinions in an arena where you have a opportunity to respond than other forums simply where you have no voice.

Regular updates are key – plan accordingly

Unlike a new brochure, social media efforts will have a long life. People expect you to update them and respond to comments that they share. Creating a social media channel requires a time commitment. If you don’t update regularly, it will appear that your organization isn’t active and thriving. Your social media presence will affect how people view the quality and vibrancy of your organization in the same way your traditional marketing materials do.

Questions or comments? Leave them in the comments.

Last week one of the blogs that I follow had a post that was different than the type of content they normally publish. The blog has a strong following in its specific niche so after reading a post that didn’t have anything to do with their niche I was left scratching my head. It was a clear case of “one of these things doesn’t belong.”

Consistency does three main things:

1. Turns a one-time experience into repeat users
2. Builds trust in your organization and messages
3. Creates the basis for your brand image

Consistency = Repeat users

When a new restaurant opens its doors, people will come just because it’s new. If customers enjoy the experience, they’ll come back. The second visit makes the difference between a trial and a customer. Can you deliver the same experience twice? If so, you’ve earned a repeat customer.

A single great performance will fail when compared to lesser but consistent performances.

Consistency = Trust

Trust comes from meeting expectations over time. People want to trust you. They value trust because it streamlines their life. They don’t have to hedge against you not delivering.  As a result they are willing to pay for the ability to trust. Consistency impacts the bottom line because people who trust you are willing to pay in order to continue trusting you.

Consistency = A Brand

When you combine repeat users with trust, you have the beginnings of a brand. This also gives you the opportunity to expand with the goodwill that you’ve created carrying over. You can easily create a brand that stands for not meeting expectations and turning people away after one try but it won’t be around for long.

Find what you can do consistently

In order to succeed find something you can do consistently. Start small and consistent and then build or expand.

Stories

Stories are the threads that tie all the pieces together. Packaging, distribution, pricing and advertising are all parts of a story that is being created about a brand, product, organization or person.

Relationships

Relationships are how people see themselves tied to a brand, product, organization or other person.

Best Stories

The best stories are those that bring a person into a relationship or further develop the relationship.

As a marketer, you should be looking for stories that create a relationship between what you’re promoting and the audience you’re targeting.

On the surface this seems like a very elegant statement. Companies pay for results and employees deliver results.In turn, companies give workers the freedom to do their job in the way that works best for them. As long as the results are delivered every one is happy.

I think the difficulty with ROWE is in the implementation. Cali Ressler and Jodi Thompson have written an book about the program called “Why Work Sucks.” The book discusses some of the mental roadblocks to a ROWE mindset but is light on important issues like setting the “outcomes” for the first time and how to avoid being given too much work. The two authors left Best Buy and created their own consulting firm that sells implementation kits.

OTB only offers one product per category.

Have you ever walked into a consumer electronics store only to be overwhelmed by all of the choices?

I have.

You want to spend your money wisely.  But,  this sea of products seems to ensure you can never be certain about your purchase.  If you’re like me, you probably walk away from your purchasing experience frustrated.

Research tells us that in order to compensate for vast array of choices the average consumer now spends 12 hours researching online for each consumer electronics purchase.

OTB is a retail website that sells a single best-in-category product in popular consumer electronics categories. By researching and selecting only the best products, OTB guarantees consumers will make a great purchase.

For example if you visit the OTB website looking for a digital camera, the only camera you’ll find is the Canon PowerShot SD1100. OTB has done the research for you. All you do is click buy.

In addition OTB will build strong relationships with it’s consumers by providing the most comprehensive information on our products and suggesting complementary products. These additional services will
ensure that OTB continues to provide value to the consumer even after the purchase.

What do you think?

So, there is the core of my business idea. Let me know what you think in the comments. We’ll look at some of the numbers supporting the concept in the next post.

• Something I’m interested in
• Something I know how to do (or at least have a clue about)
• Something that people will pay for

In the end I settled on an e-commerce website that sells consumer electronics. I’ve always been interested in gadgets and gizmos so consumer electronics matched that interest. A large part of my current job can be categorised as “web stuff”. While my skills are much more refined on the marketing and content side, I understand the programming side enough to be dangerous. So, creating an e-commerce website isn’t too much of a stretch for the something I know how to do category. In order to figure out something people would pay for I needed to find a good angle about purchasing consumer electronics. We’ll explore that in the next post.

Here are the points I found useful or interesting:

• Follow the market to where the growth is – Often companies look to attack new markets however when speed is important you will see the quickest growth by delving into a market where you are already seeing strong growth.
• Compress time frames -  Force yourself into short time frames by creating advanced timelines. When decisions are needed it’s important to get all of the decision makers in the room at the same time. If you are looking for a decision from an external organization refuse to meet until all of the decision makers can be in the room at the same time.
• Build community – Finding people who are enthusiastic about your product or organization is very important. These are the people that will spread the message. Nurture your relationship with these people. If you encounter someone who is feels negatively and is strongly vocal about it, take the time to listen to them. These people care enough about their experience to share it. Even if you can’t turn them into supporters you will at least learn something in the process.
• Get to thought leaders not traffic leaders – When trying to publicize your product or service learn the landscape of the online community. You’ll be able to quickly learn the blogs or sites that get the most traffic. But it is more important to figure out who are the early influencers. Start talking to those people. They are usually easier to get to and if they jump on board the rest will follow.
• Ready, Fire, Aim – Launch quickly and then look for feedback from the community about where to go next.It may be a different place than if you had planned it yourself.
• Look at substraction versus addition – Often my first thought is what can be new can be added to an offering but sometimes it’s more important to focus and take away features. This will streamline your offering for your core audience who is usually paying the bills.

Panel Members: Tim Ferriss - www.fourhourworkweek.com; Mike Cassidy – Benchmark Capital; Evan Williams -  Co-Founder,  Twitter/Obvious; Cali Lewis – Host & Producer, GeekBrief.TV

I offer this suggestion. Be completely transparent about your company’s spending including how much everyone is paid. Post it all online for any employee that wants to look. This does mean that you will have to be able to justify expenses and salaries but if you can’t justify it then it should probably be questioned anyway.

I previously worked at a company where sharing your salary information with a fellow employee was a fireable offense. Since then, I’ve wondered why this secrecy is necessary, other than it gives the company the upper hand in salary negotiations.

What do you think? Do you see potential pitfalls or problems?