Over the past few months I’ve learned a few things while starting a global online business.
One insight is that the story of the “Three Little Pigs” rings true when crafting a business plan. And emerging entrepreneurs should consider this when pitching their idea to investors.
A good start up needs a prototype of straw, and a plan built of sticks. Something flexible, but sturdy enough to withstand the first wolves at the door. However, in the launch phase the business better have a brick foundation to generate revenue… or else market irrelevance will blow you down.
Keep dreaming about creating a business, and don’t stop building your vision into something worthwhile. But never underestimate how your business idea needs to stand up to the time tested measure of durability against adversity.
And don’t worry… if you’re an entrepreneur at heart, you already have a four letter word going for you. NEXT
Is anyone else tired of talking about this Marketing Land of Oz? Social Media is communication phenomenon, but it’s not the yellow brick road to success and clicking three times will not get you home.
Why? Because if you need a social media strategy to be authentic, maybe you have a brand disorder?
The lofty new authors of “Social Media or Die” are not talking to the real people that are on these channels. If they stopped to have this conversation, they would discover a growing discontent for advertising on Facebook. The low entry cost and viral potential makes it attractive to marketers, but consider what your profile would look like if every brand in the world was marketing on social media… a big, noisy NASCAR page.
How marketing showed up and ruined the social media party…
Of course there are case studies and success stories out there, but the percentage of replicable success is low. The bell curve (something we all learned in grade school) remains true, and the early adopters that failed quickly and refined their strategy are winning. Unfortunately, a big wave of newbies is coming. This will over-saturate the medium and leave a mess in the wake.
What if the best social media channel for marketing is yet to come?
I’m not discouraging social media marketing, but a simpler theory is you don’t need a strategy to be on social media—just be real, build a healthy presence, and have a relevant and compelling word of mouth message. Your fans will do the rest.
If you’re out there already, then keep playing. Trying to catch up on strategy is about as effective as worrying about the next thing. What will you do then?
It’s been an incredibly interesting year, if the word interesting is a substitute for dreadful. The universal relevance of the new century recession was that it somehow touched us all—lost jobs, mortgages and icons (Michael Jackson). And when the going get’s tough, the tough rely on their strengths and prioritize their decisions.
This holiday season I think we all remembered what is really important, and that is a reason to celebrate.
Books I’ll be reading this year:
“Living the Dream… the secret to being jolly is working one day a year” an autobiography by S. Claus.
“You could even say it Glows… learn how to stand out in a crowd” a self help book by Rudolph R. Nose.
“Catch Me if You Can… tips from a global environmentalist and talking snowman” by Frosty.
The common theme in these selections is do what you’re good at and aspire to do what you love. An ongoing professional development plan to create a brighter future.
If 2009 was the year of the RESET BUTTON, then let’s wrap it up, stick it under the tree and dream of possibilities coming this new year. It’s not world peace, but it’s a start.
Though it’s been said many times, many ways… Merry Christmas.
Give credit when credit is due. Some brick-n-mortar retailers will be relevant and smiling this December.
The brand recognition goes to Bass Pro Shop. When it would be easy to be slashing prices and touting sales, the Bass Pro ads suggest something more meaningful; that Christmas (and Christmas shopping) is an experience worth remembering.
They show vintage video that warms and reminds us of a time before the marketing + media blitz. And kids… come in and create a handmade ornament for Mom, the perfect gift. See a snowy village electric train and get a free photo with Santa.
What really makes it special? Instead of competing on price or trying to convince us that the perfect gift is waiting to be discovered in the aisles, the welcome surprise was that Bass Pro didn’t mention a single product.
Sales by the numbers will go to Craft, Consignment and Discount Stores. These are the stores that live somewhere between Walmart, Michaels, Nordstrom Rack and the Dollar Store. What they lack in sex appeal they make up for on unbeatable margins, and location is part of a marketing strategy.
HGTV has taught me that the companies that spend the least on holiday advertising also hold some thoughtful gems and last minute gifts that budget strapped shoppers will looking for with mid-month paychecks.
Casual Thought Friday… how relevant is cold calling in today’s B2B Sales Strategy?
Results would indicate it is about or less effective than direct mail, which puts it around 4% effective at best. Of course there are amazing success stories, and yours truly has had more than a few. But the cold hard fact is you won’t be able to grow your business in 2010 or beyond without a marketing plan that supports dialing for dollars.
As for scripting the call, this is not the time to tell your story or cite your brochure. If there was a Biz Dev bible, it would say cold calling is about as relevant as your ability to create value (give me a reason to care) in 30 seconds or less. The person on the other end of the phone has other priorities, so out of consideration you should be able to deliver your best message in this time frame. And this also includes leaving a voicemail.
If you are lucky enough to spend more than 5 minutes on the phone, then hopefully you took advantage of the time to let them talk. The more you know the better, because you want to pitch big picture vision at the C level and sell at the influential level.
The objective of a cold call is a warmer introduction. Close the call with a “first date” invite or find out if they are attending any networking events in the near future. You don’t need a login and password to be social. The handshake may be old school, but all new business relationships begin face to face.
In the B2B world, most new business is developed through relationships. However, selling change or pitching new ideas will always create the biggest opportunities.
This dichotomy is best explained as “familiarity vs. possibility,” and every good sales and marketing person should pursue new work knowing that the incumbent service provider has a comfortable relationship with the client—translation: they probably haven’t heard any new ideas in some time.
This is your foot in the door, but new clients weren’t just sitting around waiting for your sales call and they didn’t just finish a meeting discussing the problem you propose to solve. Therefore, the pitch is not about you. It is always about the client.
You are only as relevant as their problem, and your pitch has to be empathetic of their situation. The budget, timelines and resources in your proposal need to be proportional to their business objectives, and for every decision maker you will need an influencer to support your cause internally.
You can help this cause by allowing your influencers to play along. Let them share their subject matter expertise and guide them to developing the best solution.
Change is most frightening to others when there are definitive terms, and it is OK not to have all the answers. Act like you have thought of everything and you risk taking them out of the process—then they will be asking what’s in it for them?
Selling Change: A B2B Sales and Marketing Strategy (Recap)
Understand your prospective client’s industry. Know the company framework, how they make decisions and what influences those decisions. Be empathetic to their situation and how receptive they will be to change. Create value, propose relevant solutions and always calculate your odds of winning before you decide to play the game.
Once you decide to play, swing for the fences… and best of luck!
The funny thing about change is it does not adhere to any rules, and in business there is not a shared work calendar with CHANGE MEETING booked in the conference room on every other Tuesday. So remember that when you are selling change your audience is on the defense because they didn’t see you coming, and client insight and industry foresight are your elements of surprise.
Why this?
The four company frameworks (Structural, Human Resource, Political and Symbolic) will respond to your change proposal according to their culture. And before you pass GO and talk money, you must fully understand their situation. If in doubt, don’t even pick up the phone unless you can clearly communicate in 30 seconds or less how your solution is relevant to their business.
The litmus test: a compelling idea gets you to the next step, and nothing fails faster than a clumsy sales pitch.
Why now?
Timing is everything. When you sell change, be aware that you are rearranging priorities. Right now, companies are looking at 2010 initiatives and trying to figure out what will make the biggest impact for the least amount of investment. The logistics of your pitch better generate ROI in six months or less—or your odds of winning have dropped significantly.
In B2B sales your task is to be forever optimistic, because selling change to a client is a win-win scenario. And even if your best pitch fails, the lasting impression you should leave them with is… if not now, when?
Casual Thoughts Friday… “No, we’re never gonna survive—unless we get a little crazy…” SEAL
During a discussion with some Pacific Northwest business leaders about when (and how) the economy will turn for the better, it occurred to me that any company that has been recently downsizing and/or asking employees to take pay cuts will be in some serious trouble in 2010.
Revenue: if your company sales revenue is down 30% in 2009, then you will have to grow 10% over each quarter next year just to get back in the black.
Assets: it will be next to impossible to hold onto your best customers (and talented people) once the economy recovers, unless it is your company taking the lead.
Business leaders will always be the trendsetters because they are always willing to take risks. The marketing strategy “leap of faith” is a willingness to try something their competitors are not doing.
How relevant is your marketing? Are you being innovative or responsive since the economy changed? What will success look like this year, or in December 2010? And what idea (that once seemed crazy) is now looking like the right pair of dice to risk rolling?
“In a world full of people there’s only some that want to fly… isn’t that crazy?”
Casual Thought Friday… which came first, social media or branding yourself online?
The chicken or egg question is whether social media is allowing us to brand ourselves, or has forced us to register our name on every online channel?
Reid Hoffman, founder of Linked In, was recently quoted as saying “I realized that the world was transforming every individual into a small business. But how do you positively influence your brand on the Internet?”
More importantly, what is the relevance of your online brand?
The logic is that if you become so well networked professionally (and personally), and relationships are what make the business world go round, then your brand transcends your place of employment – if it is authentic and stands for something. And in this troubled economy, that is a competitive advantage that can help you retain friendships and client connections wherever you might land next.
I would argue that it doesn’t really matter how many followers, friends and blog subscribers you have if your views and ideas are consistently connecting with your audience. This suggests that the value of your brand depends on your business interests and how big you want to be.
However, the business world is immediately attracted to the big numbers and apparently there are some Tweeters out there with a million followers. That does not mean filtering any campaign through them will be a successful co-branded effort (see Ashton + Nikon).
Maybe I should worry more about my competitors, but I’m grateful anytime my ramblings are well received or shared by others. That said, I’m going to Trademark my name tomorrow… just in case.
Casual Thought Friday… what killed the daily newspaper?
There are stories buzzing that the “New York Times” is drowning in debt. Many other newspapers around the country are already going exclusively online. These reputable news sources that our fathers and grandfathers grew up reading are now competiting with blogs like the HuffingtonPost.com
Can you imagine a world without newspapers? Have they become irrelevant? Is social media holding the smoking gun? Or was it Craig’s List? This conspiracy will change your business if newspapers make up a huge percentage of your marketing media budget.
We are very busy people with little time to read content… unless we can read it on our iPhone, a friend’s blog or Facebook update, or ‘maybe’ a topical magazine. When we are feeling social (or bored), we are clicking on these channels for information and there is only so much time in the day.
However, I always say it is the wolf you don’t see that sneaks up on you. The want ads have become a skeleton of what they were since the days of Craig’s List and Monster.com.
Delivery costs are up and subscribers are down. A simple media equation: No Subscribers = No Ad Revenue And in business, that math doesn’t lie.
If institutions like GM and the NY Times can be knocking on death’s door, then in part it is because they did not engage or influence a new generation buyers (or readers). But this recession will define the relevance of your business, and if you’re a “need to have.” Be afraid AAA… the Yellow Pages… and possibly YOU!
