By Jillian Anderson | July 30, 2009

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Sometimes you just can't say it better than Mark Twain.

I love marketing quotes – the wit, the punditry, the directness – and how an entire concept can be summed up in one sentence (or two or three).  Here are some of my favs:

“Tell a story that is memorable and remarkable and worth listening to.  Seduce your customers, because that’s exactly what they want you to do.” – Seth Godin

“Strategy should be developed from the bottom up, not from the top down.  In other words,  strategy should be developed from a deep knowledge of and involvement in the actual tactics of the business itself.” – Jack Trout …Read more »

By tscheich | July 28, 2009

The web has changed the way we communicate, presenting brands the ability to reach a worldwide range of people in ways never before possible. Businesses, both large and small, can harness the power of the web to not only reach more people than ever before, but they can also extend the user experience by encouraging people to interact with their brand – making the brand more available to their audience.

Sounds good, but why does this matter? Why is this important? …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | July 21, 2009

This is your website (credit: machity)

An old, rickety car slowly pulled into the car dealership lot and parked. It belched black smoke as the clunky engine finally backfired and gave up. A man got out of the car and strolled into the office. The salesman met him there, asking if he could be of any assistance.

The conversation went something like this:

Salesman: “Hi, how are you doing? What can I help you with?”

Customer: “I need a new car.”

S: “Ah, I see! Well you’ve come to the right place. We have plenty of cars on the lot, and can order anything you might want that we don’t already have. Any idea what you’re looking for?”

C: “Yes, you see I am a salesman myself, and I spend a lot of time driving to see customers and prospects. But my car is rather old, and the engine barely works. In fact, I can only drive in first gear!”

S: “Wow! I bet that makes it hard to visit many customers in a day. Can I interest you in this brand new Complete Car? It’s well-rounded with a great engine, good looks, comfortable interior, and will certainly connect you with your customers.” …Read more »

By Allan | July 14, 2009

People trust people, not the shirts they wear

I recently tripped over a former high school classmate on Twitter. His user name looked really familiar so I checked his profile to see if it was, in fact, the person I was thinking of. After following his profile to his personal website, I found the proof I was looking for: a photo confirming my suspicions.

Cool! It’s always neat to run into tweeps you actually know outside of the twittersphere.

So after poking around his site, I find he’s also running a little side business with its own website. Being the curious cat (see: nosey) that I am, I checked out this side project. What I found was a one looooooooong page of a website making all sorts of extravagant claims and looking like an all around scam.

BUT.

Since I knew this person from a number of years ago, I found myself thinking, “Yeah, this might be something I would actually buy.” Full stop. What’s going on here? I’m presented with a totally unprofessional site that just screams “Nigerian email scam”, yet I am seriously considering opening up the wallet. Wow.

How much more do you believe the statement you’re reading when you trust (or in my case, vaguely know) the source? How much value does the source inherently bring to the table?

Your grandma makes her cookies from scratch. If Big Box Corporate Cookie Manufacturing Co. advertises their cookies are made from scratch, just like your grandma’s, would you believe them? Note: if your grandma is lead chef at Big Box Corporate Cookie Manufacturing Co., then my analogy fails. Oh well, I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles! (Oh come on, the joke wasn’t that bad…)

Moving right along: customer reviews and peer testimonials are immensely powerful forces in the purchasing process. Similar to the situation with my acquaintance and I, people will trust another person, even if a complete stranger, more readily than advertising (though advertising does have its place).

Think back to the last time you bought something online. Go ahead, I’ll wait. OK, did you read customer reviews before buying the item? Or did you at least Google it before buying? How much did your research sway your final decision? I’d be willing to bet it factored in quite a bit.

What people say about your brand experience is not easily ignored by others, and should be highly valued (pssst: you need to be paying attention to what your customers are saying, because they’re saying it whether you’re listening or not). It’s up to you to listen, interact or even facilitate the conversation on your own website by offering a rating or comment system for your product.

“But what if a customer posts something negative on my site? Won’t that diminish my product?” Not necessarily. Instead of seeing this as a liability, see it as an opportunity to interact and ultimately provide great customer service. If other users see you reply to a specific concern and address the issue head on (“I know you are, but what am I?” is not a valid response), it only increases your value to the customer and you gain a little bit more of their trust. Conversely, if you ignore the problem or, even worse, censor it, what message will you be sending? I’ll give you a hint: it starts with “B” and ends with “ad”.

By Vincent Tyson | July 8, 2009

Why are any of us in business? I think that’s a question more people should ask themselves. Sometimes, I don’t know why some businesses bother to go on.

Lately service, or rather a lack of it, has really got to me. I recently ordered some replacement glass for my new house from a local (nameless) company. One of the windows was cracked when I moved in. It was delivered after two weeks which is when the trouble started. Not only was the glass too big, but I also had to pay a Glazier for a window that wasn’t fitted.

The glass company happily took the window back, admitting that it had measured it wrong (good so far). They said that they’d let me know when the new glass was ready. Fast forward six weeks; one more incorrectly measured pane of glass, and I am now fuming. For some time they weren’t even answering my calls; even the shop was closed when I went to visit. Eventually after several phone calls – and a call to the owner’s personal residence – I have a new piece of glass that is supposed to be going in this weekend (I’ll keep you posted). What really annoyed me was the lack of contact and severe delays with no explanation or apology. Rest assured I won’t be going back!

If I contrast this with another story of poor service, it illustrates how things can start out bad, but turn out for the best… …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | July 2, 2009

So quick to cut? (original photo by klynslis)

Yes, okay, I’m biased. I work for an advertising and marketing agency. You might think, since the welfare of my company depends on the advertising budgets of our clients, I’d say whatever I needed to in order to convince people to advertise. Clearly an inherent conflict of interest, right?

But consider: as such an agency, we’re intimately familiar with the workings of many businesses across multiple industries, and in our role as business partners we share a common goal with each of our clients. Our job is to keep them healthy and growing with the skills and knowledge we bring to the table. So it wouldn’t make much sense to push more advertising if we knew it would hurt a client’s business. …Read more »