What Happens After They’ve Come?
Jul 6, 2008 Marketing, blogging
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Stowe Boyd has a really good post on what new social applications have to do.
So, my New Social App, open the door, invite me in, and tell me up front what you can do for me. But don’t forget to serve drinks and give me a friendly tour. If all you want is registered guests at your party, I’ll be there like every other edgling that gets an invite. But if you want more than zombies standing in the corner dribbling ice cream, make sure I know why your ice cream’s the best, show me the ropes, and make sure I’ve got a personal reason to stay and love you.
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It’s a very important point that we often miss. And again, it’s a lesson that stretches beyond just social applications.
It’s not just about getting new people in - new customers for your product, new readers for your blog, etc. What you do after they’ve entered the door is just as - if not more - important.
[?]Tags: blog, customer relations, Marketing, social media
Do You Believe in Your Own Product?
I remember when I bought my hard guitar case. It was a relatively new/unique design, that’s less common. Even now, I rarely see people use it. But it’s lighter than normal hard cases, with just as much protection.
When I first bought the case, the store owner demonstrated the case to me. How? He used one of his own store guitars, put it in the case and tossed it on the floor. Literally. Practically like how the airline people tend to toss luggages. And the guitar was perfectly fine.
That one demonstration went really far in my decision to buy that case. The fact that the store owner was willing to risk one of his own guitars to demonstrate the case (which was cheaper than the guitar, definitely) showed how much he believed in it. And it made me believe too.
Would you be willing to take that kind of risk for your product? How much do you believe in your product? How much would you risk for it? (For those thinking about your personal brands, substitute “product” with “beliefs”.)
Because if you don’t believe in it enough to take the risk, and believe in your product, your customers are much less likely to either.
[?]Tags: belief, credibility, Marketing, product, risk
Trust
Mar 17, 2008 Marketing
I’m sure we’ve all had experiences when two people tell us the same thing, and we listen to one and dismiss the other. We listen to people we have relationships with. We pay attention to those we trust.
Trust has become even more important in today’s world, where attention is becoming more and more scarce.
The challenge is to build a relationship with your customers - to get build trust. And for more on the topic, check out Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s excellent manifesto on Trust Economies.
[?]Tags: attention, chris brogan, julien smith, Marketing, relationship, trust
Calling Your Customer’s Name
When we hear our own name being called, we tend to have a greater response. It’s a biological fact. We’re more alert and responsive to our own name.
Marketers should take note of this, and make use of it. Call your customer by name. Make your messages personal. If it’s personal, it’s more likely to get a response. And you’re more likely to be able to get the person’s attention.
Here’s a great example of making your message personal (aimed at Jeremiah Owyang). And true enough, it definitely got his attention.
How are you making your message personal to your audience?
[?]Tags: attention, audience, jeremiah owyang, Marketing, name, Personal, walt's wisdom
Background Sounds
Feb 24, 2008 Analogies, Marketing
Ever noticed how you tend not to hear background sounds after a while? When you first turn an air conditioner on, for example, you notice the sound. After a while, you don’t hear it anymore. Same goes for a clock ticking, among other things.
Our brains have “novelty detector neurons“, which respond to newer sounds, and stop firing if a certain pattern of sounds is repeated over and over. Because of that, sounds that don’t change fade into the background, and we don’t hear them.
We have a natural instinct to not pay attention to things that stay constant. And on the reverse side, as marketers - and face it, we’re all marketers - you need to be different to get attention. You need to keep changing with the times, adapting your medium and message to fit the audience.
You need to provide something that others aren’t used to hearing.
Whatever you’re marketing - be it your personal brand, a corporate product or anything else - how are you getting attention, and stopping yourself from fading into the background?
[?]Tags: , attention, background, Marketing, novelty detector neuron, personal brand, sound, stand out
Fixing it in the mix
Feb 20, 2008 Analogies
When you record audio or video (or even take a photo), with today’s technology, there’s a lot you can do after the original recording. If it’s an audio file, you can EQ it, filter it. If it’s a video, you can put transitions, color correct. If it’s a picture, you can change the brightness and contrast, you can cut out different parts.
And with technology, it’s so easy to edit. The problem with that, is that it makes it easy for the person to settle for a recording that’s not the best. When it’s so easy to edit, there’s the temptation to go, “that’s good enough, we’ll fix it in the edit”.
That never works out well, though. If the original recording is poor, it’s almost always very hard to fix in the mix. You’re better off doing a better recording. If the video recording is shaky, no matter how much you edit it, it will still be shaky. If the audio is distorted in the original recording, there’s nothing much you can do to fix it.
And the same can be said in any situation. It’s easy to settle for something that’s not the best, and convince yourself you can fix it after - by marketing it better, etc. But it’s always better not to settle for anything less than the best.
[?]Tags: audio, best, Marketing, mixing, post production, video
Dan Schawbel on Personal Branding
Feb 5, 2008 People, personal branding
Today I had the pleasure of talking to Dan Schawbel. He shares some really good insight and advice on personal branding. Definitely worth a listen.
You can download the podcast here.
[?]Tags: advice, dan schawbel, Marketing, personal branding, tips
