So, what’s going on in Chicago’s adland?

After nearly 60 years, S.C.Johnson (Wisconsin based, maker of products such as Windex, Glade and Ziploc bags) just fired Chicago’s second largest advertising agency, DraftFCB and the estimated $1 billion global marketing budget was moved to two local agencies – Energy BBDO and Ogilvy & Mather. Rich Stoddart, president of – Leo Burnett, won’t call it a giant win, more like a net zero since the business stays in Chicago. Leo Burnett North America with 1,600 employees and accounts such as Kellog’s, Samsung, Proctor & Gamble and Allstate (which got a lot of attention with the “Mayhem” spots) and Travelocity, is by far the largest agency in Chicago.

The Chicago advertising industry suffers from a dated perception of being a nuts-and-bolts market specializing in packaged goods, according to the Chicago Tribune. Also taking an extra hard hit by the recession, all symbolized by the closing down of J.Walter Thompsons local shop in 2009. But lately, this has all changed due to an influx of new talents and the booming new digital scene staged by national reputable firms such as Razorfish, Digitas and Digital Kitchen.

Depending on criteria, Chicago is the second or third city of advertising. According to the American Association of Advertising Agencies, LA had in 2009 1,004 agencies and 13,962 employees, topping Chicago’s 892 agencies and 11,794 employees. And they have started to hire again!

Exemplified by Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago’s largest independent ad agency, has grown more than 50 percent the last six years, billing $998 million in 2010 and employs 548 people.

Things are starting to look brighter for the Chicago advertising industry, attracting new creative talents and stepping up on the digital scene!

The Butterfly Circus

Inspirational, the more of a struggle, the greater feels the victory:




Here is part 2:

What is the Number One Way to Connect Your Email and Social Media Marketing?

With so many ways to integrate email and social media we have almost unlimited options for leveraging connection between these two powerful conversation marketing channels. Still, for those at the beginning of the process it pays to know where to start. And the answer is simply:

USE EMAIL MARKETING TO INVITE CONNECTIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

This of course assumes you have a presence on at least one of the big three social networks – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – if not also on others like YouTube, Ning and Meetup.
Why start with something so simple and obvious? Here are three good reasons why and a few ideas how:

1) Leverage Your Broadest and Most Established Online Channel to Build Connections in New Channels. Today it’s still true that a greater percentage of your customers use email than social media. That makes email the broadest online channel you have to invite customers to engage with you in any other channel – online or offline – especially emerging channels like social. It’s probably also the oldest (and for some, still the only) online communication channel you have with your customers, so chances are, not only are more of your customers reachable via email than social, they’re also more comfortable with and open to hearing from you through email than social media.

Leverage email marketing messages to entice, invite and remind subscribers that you’re present and interested in engaging with them on social media. You can use email to do this in a variety of ways: a) through dedicated email invites and announcements to visit and “like” you on social media sites, b) through Facebook-based contests (where a visit and “like” of the page is required for entry), and c) by embedding in email messages social media connection icons that link to your corresponding pages on those networks (now common practice).

2) Hedge against Email List Attrition. Using email to stimulate social media connections is a hedge against losing a customer connection in the email channel. If and when an email subscriber does want to leave your list, provided they’re connected with you on social media you can still engage and communicate with them there. And that’s better than not at all.
Recognize that as marketing channels continue to proliferate, people have more choice than ever. Some email subscribers will leave your list and instead prefer to connect with you on social media. Some social media fans will never subscribe to your email list. Honor preferences and don’t unreasonably expect everyone to connect with you in every channel.

3) Multiple Channels = More Valuable Customers. It’s a continually proven marketing truth that customers who engage in more than one channel purchase more often and spend more overall than customers who only interact in a single channel. While email is an ideal broadcast and targeted messaging channel, social media is a highly interactive and more conversational than email. The two separately are ideal for different types of messages, but when used together can create powerful, deeper engagement with customers that translates into more sales and higher lifetime customer value.

Don’t overlook email’s potential to initiate a conversation or process which you then continue on social media. It’s likely you’ll receive most customer ideas, suggestions, feedback, reviews and ratings through your social media points of presence. You can even use email to intentionally solicit that sort of input, which you’ll then gather on your social media pages, blog or through surveys. Since email is your broadest online channel, use it to launch a request for feedback, then transfer that conversation, discussion or interactivity to the context it’s best suited for: the social network.

Of course, we’re rarely limited to just a single way of doing anything, although we may have to tackle one method at a time. After leveraging your email to invite connections on social media, you’re ready to do just the opposite: use social media to build your email list. I’ll have a bundle of suggestions for why and how to do so in an upcoming article.

Or the answer could be

INVITE AND ENTICE YOUR SOCIAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM!

It’s not what you do, but how you do it that matters and determines your success rate. Here is how to do get sign-ups and gathering email addresses from friends and followers on the big three social networks:

1) Facebook – the beauty of Facebook is you have a lot of screen real estate to work with, so be sure to develop a custom business page with a visually attractive email opt-in, e-newsletter sign-up, or other form of registration that gathers an email address. Logically the first response to ask a new Facebook page visitor for is a “Like”, but as soon as they have liked you, you can display a page that explains the benefits they’ll now receive by being connected to you in social media and also invites them to join your email program.

You invite them into email by offering valuable content accessible only when they sign-up, or just explaining the exclusive notices and treatment your email subscribers routinely receive. The point is, don’t just go for the “like” (remember, you don’t “own” your Facebook page – Facebook does!); gather a digital point of contact that is your gateway into longer, more personal messaging.

2) Twitter – Twitter is a little different. You have some real estate to post links or opt-in invitations on your Twitter profile page, but not as much room or depth as on Facebook. So on Twitter, use your tweets themselves to invite, entice and explain the benefits of opting-in to your email. People need to be gently reminded there are multiple ways to get the best deals, exclusive offers and information from you, but don’t over-hype it.

Rather than tweet an invite to sign-up for your email list, tweet a link to the free report, application, widget, game or services trial sitting behind a registration that requires email address. Promote the benefit – what’s in it for them – of your content and services, not what’s in it for you. And do so at least once a day, but not so much that your promotional tweets vastly outnumber your helpful conversational status updates.

3) LinkedIn –LinkedIn offers some powerful and unique features – like groups, discussions and events — for business people that are also great places to promote your content and embed links to your email sign-up and lead capture pages. Of those three I think the most powerful is events. Keep in mind, an “event” can be a webinar, tele-seminar, tele-summit, or other virtual point-in-time gathering that requires minimal investment but is a fantastic list-builder.
Almost anyone registering for a paid or free webinar, tele-class or other virtual gathering knows they must provide their email address as a condition for receiving access information.

So, start routinely planning free or low-cost events and promoting them on LinkedIn (as well as Facebook and Twitter) and watch your email list grow throughout the year.
Of course, we’re rarely limited to just a single way of doing anything, although we may have to tackle one way at a time. Time to get started!

13 Things You Need to Know About QR Codes

Here's a crash course on tools, tactics, and best practices I have compiled just in case you are asked to do a 2D barcode marketing campaign tomorrow.

1. QR Code is a 2D Barcode. QR codes are an encoded barcode image resembling a square-like maze. Unlike a 1-dimensional UPC code, a 2-dimensional barcode stores data in both directions and can be scanned vertically or horizontally to be decoded.

2. 2D Barcodes Can Store a Variety of Data. A traditional 1D barcode (UPC/EAN) stores up to 30 numbers. The 2D barcode (QR) can store up to 7,089 numbers. The additional storage capacity accommodates a variety of data beyond numbers:
• Text
• Hyperlink
• Telephone number (Phone call)
• SMS/MMS message
• Email (Send message)
• Contact entry (vCard or meCard)
• Calendar entry (vCalendar)
Storing a hyperlink presents a myriad of possibilities beyond just loading a web page -- play a video, download a mobile app, check-in on Foursquare, update a Twitter status, "Like" a Facebook page, display map directions, and more.

3. Read/Decode a 2D Barcode by Scanning it With a Smartphone. (A 2D barcode reader app is required to decode the encoded data.)

4. 2D Barcodes Can be Placed in and on Nearly Any Location. Once the barcode image is created, it can be printed on nearly any surface and location -- newspapers, TV ads, billboards, temporary tattoos, product packaging, clothing labels, cake frosting, and more. This enables you to drive traffic, interaction, and conversion from anywhere. 2D barcodes excel at bringing non-digital media to life.
Note: Use caution placing barcodes online. They should always enhance the user experience. If a user could click a hyperlink, don't make them scan a code to complete the same task.
Location must be easily scannable. Plastic frames and packaging can reflect light. Lighting can cast shadows, and hillsides and subways can kill Wi-Fi access. Consider all contextual factors that could impact the scanning experience.

5. Mobile Barcode Scanning is on the Rise. 2D barcode scanning outnumbered 1D (UPC) scans in Q1 2011. According to ScanLife's Q1 2011 Trend Report grew Mobile barcode scanning 1,600 percent in the year 2010. QR barcode scanning was up 1,200 percent in the second half of 2010. Mobio's Naked Facts Report states that 22 percent of the Fortune 50 have already used mobile barcodes. And from a Burson-Marsteller Report: QR codes can be used for nearly any function (logistics, advertising, customer service, etc.) for B2B and B2C across a variety of industries:
• Best Buy uses QR codes on in-store price tags for quick access to online reviews.
• Golf Digest uses Microsoft Tag in their magazine to accompany tips with interactive video.
• Real estate agents use 2D barcodes on "for sale" signs providing prospective buyers access to virtual tours.
• Libraries are using QR codes to facilitate learning via interactive scavenger hunts.

6. QR Isn't the Only Type of 2D Barcode. The most popular 2D barcode formats are QR code, DataMatrix, ScanLife EZcode, and Microsoft Tag (Tag).

There are several key differences in these code formats. ScanLife EZcode and Microsoft Tag are proprietary formats only decodable by their tools, while QR and DataMatrix formats are open standard. A Google Trends analysis of these 2D barcodes shows "QR code" dominates by far from a search popularity perspective. QR has become a common term used to reference a 2D barcode (2D code, mobile tag, mobile barcode, etc.) even when codes are technically a different format. Even @MicrosoftTag uses the #QRcode hashtag on Twitter.

7. Tools to Generate and Read 2D Barcodes are Free. Tools are available for all major mobile phone handsets. To run a 2D barcode campaign you'll need to following:
1. 2D barcode generator (Website service)
2. 2D barcode reader (Mobile app)
3. [Optional” 2D barcode management/tracking tool (Website service)

Generators:
Different generators have varying features. Choose a generator based on the options for:
• Code Format (i.e. QR, EZcode, Tag, etc.)
• Stored Data (i.e. hyperlink, meCard, SMS, etc.)
• Output (i.e. color, size, download file type, etc.)
QRstuff.com is a comprehensive QR generator providing a variety of stored content, color, size, and output options. ScanLife's generator creates their proprietary EZcode as well as QR and DataMatrix formats. Microsoft Tag only generates Tag.
Note: To generate a code on the ScanLife or Microsoft Tag sites, you'll first need to create an account. (Tag requires providing personal info like birth date, gender, etc.)

Readers:
Microsoft Tag and ScanLife EZcode can only be decoded by their respective reader apps. Because of the open standard for QR codes, dozens of reader apps are available. (DataMatrix is usually supported on most QR readers.) Some mobile handsets come with a reader app pre-installed.
The following 2D barcode reader apps work on the majority of phones/handsets.
Reader App Code Formats Download Link
(from your mobile phone)
RedLaser QR, UPC/EAN redlaser.com

BeeTagg Reader QR, DataMatrix, BeeTagg get.beetagg.com

AT&T Code Scanner QR, DataMatrix, UPC/EAN scan.mobi

ScanLife EZcode, QR, DataMatrix, UPC/EAN getscanlife.com

Microsoft Tag Tag gettag.mobi

RedLaser and AT&T Code Scanner also have geolocation features for local price comparison shopping.

8. Management Tools are Available to Track Scanning Analytics.. URL-shortener and web analytics for 2D barcodes storing URL hyperlinks are a great start. For comprehensive scan tracking, you'll need to use a barcode generator tool that includes tracking analytics. (These tools are not independent.) Some management tools will merely track the number of scans while others provide detailed metrics like demographics, repeat scans, geolocation, and more. Collected analytics depends on the reader app used for scanning, so data results may vary.
Management tools are relatively inexpensive and sometimes free. Paid plans typically have a free trial with fees based on the number of scans.

2D Barcode Management & Tracking Tools:
• Microsoft Tag (Tag)
• ScanLife (EZcode, QR, DataMatrix, UPC)
• Tappinn (QR, UPC)
• Paperlinks (QR)
• QReateBUZZ (QR)
• BeQRious (QR)
• SPARQCode (QR)
• QReate and Track (QR)

9. 2D Barcode Content Should Provide Special Value for the Customer.
It's work to scan a barcode, so users have higher expectations as to what content they will find. Reward the user with discounts, exclusive content, or useful tips relevant to the code's context. Consider scenarios that leverage smartphone features (email, SMS, phone call, video, map, apps, etc.) to save the user time.
For example, including a QR code on a business card that links to a meCard would be a lot easier than the user manually entering the contact record. In contrast, a QR code that links to a website homepage adds limited value.
Note: If you link to a web page, make sure that it's mobile-friendly.

10. Small or Complex QR Codes Can't be Scanned by Smartphones With Lesser Quality Cameras. Complex 2D barcodes (a lot going on, not very dense) are more challenging and time consuming to scan. In the case of QR codes, more stored content forces a larger code size. In general, it's best to minimize data stored in 2D barcodes. Always use a URL-shortener to shrink hyperlinks. (Add analytics tracking parameters before shortening the link.)
Warning: Small, complex QR codes are the biggest mistake currently being made by marketers. (Microsoft Tag and EZcode formats generally don't have this issue.) Smartphone cameras with resolution less than 4-megapixels can't scan a QR code smaller than about 1"x1". Moreover, without the auto-focus (AF) camera feature, a complex QR code will have the same scanning issue, even if the code is larger. The iPhone 3GS and Blackberry are popular handset examples that lack both of these camera features. Unscannable codes kill and delay the adoption rate for 2D barcode campaigns.
Tip: Always provide a back-up (i.e. hyperlink, SMS text message, etc.) option for users to retrieve info within the code. A back-up enables non-smartphone users to also participate.

11. Consumers Need Guidance to Scan 2D Barcodes. The variety of code types, readers, and different terminology is confusing to consumers. Nielsen Company estimates that only 40 percent of U.S. mobile devices are smartphones as of Q1 2011, growing to almost 50 percent by Q3 2011. That means there are a lot of smartphone rookies that barely know how to use their phone, much less distinguish differences in mobile barcode formats and reader apps. As long as 2D barcodes are a novelty concept, always include a brief step-by-step guide with the context of your code.
Logical steps:
1. Get the reader app
2. Scan the code with your mobile device
3. (Action that happens upon scanning)
Tip: For the reader app download, include a URL link or SMS shortcut to expedite the process. This step is imperative when using proprietary Microsoft Tag or ScanLife EZcode formats since only one reader is capable of scanning their codes.
Steps two and three can be combined as a call-to-action. Example: "Scan to ____." (... watch a video, download our app, call customer support, etc.)

12. 2D Barcodes can be Customized Artistically. QR codes include an Error Correction Level (ECL) that enables "damaged" codes to still be scanned. The error level tolerance (set by the code generator) can be as high as 30%. As a result, creative license can be used to create designer QR codes from a variety of colors or materials (i.e. jelly beans, sand castles, product packaging, etc.) as long as there is adequate contrast to read the code.
When it comes to advanced QR code graphic design, it's harder than it looks. If you want to get fancy, I recommend connecting with QR art experts at QRarts.com or Delivr.com.
Microsoft Tag also allows for artistic codes. Their custom tag tool allows users to generate art from codes or even overlay codes on top of photographs.

Tip: Some artistic design is fun and good to see; however, don't go overboard. As long as 2D barcodes are novelty, it's important that users easily recognize a scannable code from a distance.
13. Testing Scannability is Imperative.
Before you mass print or distribute barcodes be sure to test for scannability. Testing factors:
• Smartphone cameras (resolution/auto-focus)
• Reader apps
• Scan context (i.e. lighting, shadows, surfaces)
• Scan distance
• Scan timing

Good luck!

Norwegian Direct TV following the bombing

How to Make Lead Generation Work

The only way to figure out the most cost-effective means for generating quality leads is trial and error. Try, try and try again. Better yet, test, test and test gain. It's a game of keeping track of each effort, tracking the results and then trying different combinations and nuances to find an even more successful campaign. Finding one great campaign might do the trick for a while, but never stop experimenting and tracking the results.


Lead generation involves several touch points
Unlike mail order that makes and closes the sale at one time, lead generation is a multi-step campaign where the goal is to find and sign in potential customers. The number of contacts will vary depending on what we sell, the price, the number of people involved in the decision-making process, and so on.


Work backwards
In conceptualizing a campaign, start at the end with the ultimate objective and go in reverse to the first step. The important thing is to plan every step of the campaign in advance. Having a well-thought out strategy in place before hitting the mail, the email or the ads along with the collateral material ready, allows us to respond promptly and confidently at every stage of the process.


Less is more
Give the prospect just enough information at each stage of the campaign to take him to the next stage until the process culminates in a high quality lead. Revealing too much too soon increases the chances that the prospect will react negatively or find objections. Personalization is nice but not necessary. The lead generation piece doesn't have to be fancy. In fact, simple or even ugly has been shown to work better than expensive mailings filled with inserts. A non-personalized letter and reply device is all it takes to get the ball rolling.


Use a bait piece
Many experts agree that it's a mistake to send a lead generating promotion without offering something free to excite interest. You can use almost anything for a bait piece, but the best items offer genuine value that the prospect finds relevant and useful, and which ties into our product and service. Whitepapers, brochures, booklets, case studies, checklists, idea books and special reports are commonly used because of their high perceived value.


Sell the bait piece, not the company
The first effort in the series should sell the benefits and solutions found in the bait piece, not the product or service we are ultimately trying to sell. For example: If you're a landscaper and you'd like to sign up more households, your bait piece could be "7 Tips for Growing a Greener Lawn"--not "How XYZ Landscaping Cares For Your Lawn." The former informs, the latter sells.


Make the bait piece unique
Create something specifically for the mailing and which is available nowhere else. If conditions preclude this, then it's perfectly acceptable to repurpose existing content from the company into a suitable booklet or report. Put a catchy title on the bait piece. The title can interest the prospect, solve a problem, evoke fear, offer a benefit or ask a provocative question. "How to" titles and titles with numbers ("7 Ways to ...") never go out of style.


Arouse curiosity, not contentment
The lead generation promotion should get them excited enough to respond, and nothing more. It's better to hold something back in this kind of promotion rather than satisfy their curiosity or reveal everything at once. State clearly that the bait piece comes without cost or obligation.


Variables to optimize in the lead process
The response rate is highly influenced by the how ready the customer is to buy your services and how relevant the offer is to their preferences and needs.


A useful 17 point check list
1. What are your geographical areas yielding a higher possibility for response than average
2. What type of property are they in possession of
3. Can you pin down neighborhoods that have great ambassadors or loyal clients
4. What are the income brackets in the target groups
5.How do they view the future regarding income, house value increase and reasons why they want to invest
6. What is the number of contacts necessary before the prospect is ready to meet the sales staff? 7. Identify where in the buying process the customer is
8. What is the competition
9. When do they plan to buy
10. How do they want to invest
11. Test messages, what works best to whom; cost, security, design style…
12. Test layout (simple and cheap, versus glossy and exclusive)
13. Test channel and number of contacts (on-offline)
14. Would an email program to inform and educate about possibilities work?
15. Test what number of contacts are most effective courting
16. Test methods of production to reduce cost or increase quality
17. Negotiate price on distribution on and offline


Do the math - How many addresses do you need to send the bait to each week?
If you want to end up with 100 prospects per week you want to end up with, here is what you have to invest depending on your response rate:

Expected response rate 1 % 10 000 suspects per week
2 % 5 000 suspects per week
5 % 2 000 suspects per week

What will the bait cost for one contact?
Fill in the numbers (here is an example):
Creative (estimate, fixed cost divided on larger volumes) $ 15 000
Production (10 000 pieces x $ 00.50) $ 5 000
Distribution (10 000 pieces x $ 00.46) $ 4 600
Total $ 24 600

Contact 1
Cost per lead with 1 % response rate 24 600/100 $ 246
Cost per lead with 2 % response rate 24 600/200 $ 123
Cost per lead with 5 % response rate 24 600/500 $ 49

Contact 2….n
Do the same math for each contact.

Finally, use low-cost PR techniques to generate more leads
To get more mileage out of the offer, notify media outlets that serve our target audience and tell them that the booklet or whitepaper is available--again, at no charge. You're not pitching the company; you're pitching genuinely valuable, relevant information.

The clue to attracting prospects!

SEO made easy

I have compiled a 12 point check list mostly for myself and my own SEO work. If it can be useful to you too, help yourself to the list!





1. The ideal is to identify the keywords that your prospects actually use, but the competitors don’t use to optimize their pages.

2. Use a targeted optimization strategy by picking a few pages, that’s the way to get the biggest bang for your buck.

3. Web crawlers does not like of you optimize a page for more than one word, therefore, each page should be optimized for a different key word.

4.Understand how Google rank pages. They use more than 200 signals and keep them a secret, but talk to an SEO expert to keep up with the changes.

5. 40% of searches happen through other services such as Bing. Most search engines use the same signals, but prioritize differently. So don’t miss out on web traffic through other engines.

6. A correctly tagged page code is important for the web crawlers to pick up your content and present it when your prospect use keywords to find you. If the page description uses keyword and is informative, there’s a better chance your prospects will want to click through to the page.

7. Make sure your web design is handled right. Flash and other types of multi media need to be handled in the right way for SEO.

8. SEO doesn’t like slow web pages – Google’s algorithm docks you for it when ranking search results. Therefore make sure jQueries and other plug ins are structured correctly.

9.Make external links to other pages. Make sure the links are interesting.

10. Use key words in your posts on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to attract prospects and build network of advocates.

11. Fresh content helps your page rankings, you need to constantly reevaluate your strategy, the codes and page content in order to keep attracting prospects.

12. The longer you stick with it the more you will see the difference on your bottom line, use Google analytics or new leads as a measurement of the benefits over time.

Most important, start with optimizing your website if you haven’t done it already. How many points could you say DONE to?

My husband will not go to a professional massage therapist!

Massage is a healing art as well as a science. We practice home massage as an art, regularly indulging ourselves in the relaxation of a hot stone massage, or the incredible tension release of a hard Swedish massage after a stressful work week. According to my husband, I am the best massager in the world(he is not that bad himself), but we are amateurs and I would very much like for him to experience the preventative health advantages of a professional treating it as a science. A professional massage requires a balance of academic and technical knowledge, clinical skills, manual dexterity, sensitivity, and awareness; we are mere amateurs with care for each other.

He refuses to visit a professional massage therapist for reasons such as too much intimacy, potential male embarrassment or misunderstanding, an unwillingness to trust a stranger with his body, inconsistent quality of service and a general feeling of being in a vulnerable situation.

In my job search, I came across a Communication Manager job for an organization I had never heard about: the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB). They are looking for people dedicated to advancing the highest standards in the massage therapy and bodywork profession to joint their team. What a great opportunity, I thought. I wanted to research this industry to determine if the job would be a great fit – and at the same time collect arguments with the purpose of convincing my husband he would be in safe hands with a professional massage therapist conducting business within a strict code of ethics he can trust and a standard of practice he can rely on. All he has to do, is to make sure the therapist is certified by NCBTMB.

Fast changing industry
Massage therapy has the attributes of an emerging profession undergoing relatively fast-paced change. For example in my research I found that professional standards for both individuals and massage training programs have markedly advanced and increased over the past five years, but still the standards in the field are not uniform. Prior to 1989, when the massage therapy profession was smaller and there were fewer schools, people often prepared by taking workshops from independent instructors or studying with a practitioner in an apprenticeship. This is no longer the case. As part of the advancement of standards in the field, a national certification program began in 1992, administered by the NCBTMB. Similar to the national boards given in other healthcare fields, the exam is given at test centers across the country. Those who pass the exam become eligible to use the title Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork and may use the initials NCTMB.

Regulated profession and accredited training required
Today, the profession is regulated in 33 states and in DC. In states without regulation of massage, municipalities tend to have requirements for a business license. For example, it may be required to complete from 300 to 1,000 hours of in-class training programs and to pass the National Certification Exam. The training program should also be approved by a credible, national accreditation agency. One such agency is the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA) which has accredited 70 training programs and institutions so far.

Where do we find a good therapist?
I am delighted to find massage therapists just about everywhere. They practice in a variety of settings, such as private offices or massage therapy clinics, chiropractors’ or doctors’ offices, holistic health clinics, health clubs and fitness centers, spas, nursing homes and hospitals, with sports teams, and sports medicine facilities. Some massage therapists even have portable equipment and work at their clients’ offices or homes. I have also seen massage therapists at our local mall and just the other month, I had a massage at the Copenhagen airport while waiting for a delayed flight.

Both he and I agree, massage therapy has a broad number of applications we can benefit from - from relaxation, stress reduction, health promotion, pain management and injury recovery. In the safe hands of NCBTMB I am hopeful he no longer will fear unprofessional therapists or not being treated with respect and care.

I am grateful to the NCBTMB for helping me convince my husband over dinner tonight as I have been convinced it would be awesome to join the team to further advance the highest standards for massage therapy. I truly believe in the profound health prevention benefits of massage and would like more people to dare try.

"We tried advertising. It didn't work."?

What's your quick response to a new B2B client who says "We tried advertising. It didn't work."?

Most of us who have worked with B2B clients have heard it the context of both traditional print ads and discussing Google AdWords.

It seems to boil down to 5 issues:
1. Wrong message
2. Prospects didn't see the ad when and where they were looking
3. Customers just don't need what you're selling today
4. You had them, but lost them
5. Mismatched expectations

Free Offers work in both B2B and B2C

Today, I got an interesting email from copy writer guru Bob Bly where he discusses how traditional advertising is learning from old direct marketing practice.

He start reciting a reciting a radio commercial for McDonald's. In the commercial, a guy walks into work late carrying a cup of McDonald's coffee. The rate boss berates him: "You're late because you stopped and bought a cup of McDonald's coffee?" "Nope," the worker replies. "What do you mean, nope?" the boss says, irritated. "It's right in your hand." "But I didn't BUY this cup of McDonald's coffee," our hero corrects him. "I got it FREE when I went to McDonald's and bought a delicious breakfast meal."

What they are selling, of course, is not the brand or the food. They are selling the offer: buy a breakfast and get the coffee free.

As all direct marketers know, offers are essential for generating advertising response ... and free offers are usually the most attractive.

Here is another example he makes:

Take Oreck vacuum cleaners, for instance. In their mailings, the offer is a risk-free home trial of their 8-pound vacuum cleaner. The incentive to respond is a gift -specifically, a free "dust buster" type of handheld mini-vacuum.

His point is: more and more general advertisers are taking a cue from direct marketing - and creating and promoting strong offers designed to get the cash register to ring.

Here are some more examples:

• The local dry cleaner recently made this special offer: bring in any two garments to dry clean, and we will launder your shirts for just $1 each.

• A local Italian restaurant puts out free bread (a common practice in restaurants), but accompanies it with a plate of fine aged parmesan.

• Gevalia coffee. The deal is this: get one monthly shipment of coffee at a discount price, and they will send you a free coffee maker.

p>What kind of offer can you make your prospects that could attract more business and sales?

Here's a quick checklist he recommend to get you started:

• Stress your guarantee ("satisfaction guaranteed or your money back").

• Let your prospects use the product for a month without risk -meaning if they don't like it, they can return the merchandise for a full refund ("send for your FREE 30-day home trial").

• Give them a discount ... with a reason for the discount, if possible ("save 40% during our 25th anniversary sale").

• Be like Oreck and Gevalia: give them a free bonus gift with their order ("reply now and get this valuable FREE bonus gift").

• Or, have a two for one sale ("buy one, get one free"). This works well for products the prospect wants more than one of, such as cleaning fluids or plastic storage containers for the kitchen.

• Offer to pay return shipping charges via UPS if your customers decide to return the product for a refund ("if you're not 100% satisfied, we'll come to your door, pick it up, and take it away- entirely at our expense").

• Make a logical connection between the product and the offer - e.g., the Sovereign Society, a financial newsletter on offshore investing, offered a free Swiss bank account to new subscribers.

• One more tip: if you can't think of a reason to justify why you are making a special offer, get creative. A record store, for example, could have a half-price sale – one day only - on Elvis's birthday.

No logical tie-in for your product? Create your own. If you run a photography studio, declare this month "National Family Togetherness Month" ... and send out a press release to the media suggesting a family portrait to celebrate.

A super excuse tip!
A good source of ideas is Chase's Calendar of Events, which gives you all the special events and celebrations for every month, week, and day of the year that there is one.

And he also gives us this for free:
Offers are vital to generating a healthy response to your marketing. And they work in both consumer and business marketing. For instance, a local janitorial service was willing to clean a plant or factory at no cost to demonstrate the quality of its services and hook new accounts who would hire them as their regular janitorial service. There is a known direct marketing principle, called "the magic of a dollar," that says offering something for a penny or a dollar can be as effective - or sometimes even more so, since it is less common. In this case, the janitorial service sent a letter with a penny glued to the upper right corner of page one. The copy said, "We will clean your entire plant or office for a penny ... and I've even enclosed the penny, so it really costs you nothing!" Mailing stamps or money with your direct mail letter is an old trick ... and yes, it worked like gangbusters.

Thank you Bob!

I you don’t like QR codes, here is an alternative

Quick-response (QR) codes let users actually do something with old media: They make packages, print ads and magazines clickable and linkable to websites or apps. But do they work?

There are far too many steps: To scan a QR code, you have to carry the right phone with the right camera, be connected to the internet and have downloaded one of the many QR scanning apps out there. Then, you have to stumble across one of those boxes.

Enter Zoove. You can get the QR results -- a link to a website or app download, a coupon, a video -- but to get there, you there's no camera, app or smartphone required. All you do dial is a number on a mobile phone and make a call.

Here's how it works: Advertisers or media companies register a StarStar code with Zoove -- recent campaigns include - **Suzuki -, - **GSCookies for the Girls Scouts - and - **GMA for Good Morning America -- and when consumers dial, they get a text message with a link or voice recording. Dial **GSCookies and listen to a recording text message with a link to the App Store to download a cookie locator or **Suzuki and get a link to a video. Ad messaging aside, it worked!

On the first try! Shouldn't technology be this easy?

By now, Zoove has partnered with all top-four U.S. wireless carriers so StarStar vanity numbers work on 95% of all phones, and not just the smart ones. TV shows like "Good Morning America" and "CBS Early Show" are testing StarStar codes for ad sponsorships or to collect viewers' votes. Now, imagine, instead of no-one-remembers short codes on "American Idol," you'd just have to **Lauren to vote for your girl.

Company: Zoove
Founded: 2004
Location: Palo Alto, Calif.
Funding: $40.5 million
Major investors: Cardinal Venture Capital, Highland Capital Partners and Worldview Technology Partners
Key execs: Joe Gillespie, CEO; Tim Jemison, founder and chief operations officer
In short: It's like QR codes, but the app is making a phone call

Technology and multichannel interactive communication

We need to change our mind set from campaign management to interaction management. Consumers and clients interact with brands using a number of communication tools – email, mobile, Twitter, Facebook only to mention some. Therefore has dashboards and automated features become a pre requisite for multichannel interactive marketing.

A study conducted by eConsultancy reveal that 98 % of all marketers use at least three channels to deliver multichannel messages to their customers, but more than half still store the data they gather from each channel in separate, siloed locations. In the same study, only 35 % collect data from different sources and store in a single database. 71 % cited maintaining high-quality data as a major challenge. Why?

Because the tools that promised to be the best solutions are insufficient. They often are too formulaic or static and fail to make us truly understand and engage in specific type of customers. The answer lies in finding a tool that allows us to not only analyze the conversation about the brand, but also react – in real time. Every customer record, every text sent, every Twitter conversation we engage in should form an integrated, comprehensive view of the customer allowing you to create more accurate, meaningful relationship with the client.

No matter what channel we use to engage the customer, each and every interaction we have with them is highly influential to the way the client will ultimately view your brand.

At Exact Target they love software, check them out if you need to unsilo and link customer profiles through cross-channels.

Retail: Awesome Strategy and Segmentation Based on Customer Data Insight

This is an awesome case which shows how you by using customer data insight to segment and make differenciated strategies based on potential and behavior resulting in a $21.5 million revenue gain for Brazil's Cooperativa de Consumo (Coop).

"It is important to create differentiation," says Celso Furtado, marketing manager in charge of change management projects for Coop. "Being the only retailer in the country to have a registered customer base due to our business model, Coop can generate customer value and [gain] a competitive advantage."

Database analysis of its members revealed that 60 percent of Coop sales were driven by 17 percent of customers, and a large number of customers had low consumption rates. As a result, the company decided to define goals and action plans for different customer segments.

Coop created a customer-centric program to increase customer engagement and spending. The program is supported by a central data warehouse that contains member information and transactional data, including store preference, payment options, purchase frequency, shopping time patterns, buying behavior within product categories, and brand consumption.

Members were grouped according to their buying behavior, and five portfolios were created based on members' gross purchases and margins generated in four-month increments. This level of customer insight allowed the company to develop different treatment strategies based on the attributes of the customer portfolio, household value, and consumption behavior. It also guides overall strategic decision-making in all parts of the business.

The company set goals for each portfolio (i.e., segment). For the best-value (A) and high-consumption segments (B), Coop's goals are to recognize, maintain, and retain them. For the average-consumption segment (C) the goal is to maintain and develop; Coop wants to develop and recover the low-consumption segment and reactivate inactive members. The company customized direct mail and email campaigns based on these objectives. In addition, to provide a consistent and informed experience, store associates and other customer-service employees receive monthly training to update them on the types of campaigns sent to customers.

One way Coop recognizes customers of portfolios A and B to help retain them is through communication that "is exclusive and unique," Furtado says. "We present exclusive products and pricing." For example, high-value customers who hadn't purchased perfumery products in the previous four months recently received a direct mail piece offering a specific soap for R$ 0.01 if they also purchase moisturizer and body wash.

Meanwhile, "for customers of portfolio C, we aim to develop them and lead their migration to portfolios A and B," Furtado says. Marketing communications sent to portfolio C members talk about how Coop values their business and explains the benefits of increasing their purchases at Coop. In one campaign customers were offered a reusable shopping bag for R$ 0.01 if they bought R$60 worth of items. "We add a minimum amount of purchase to develop the member always a little bigger than his average ticket."

Coop's 2010 campaigns earned US$ 21.5 million in incremental revenue, which corresponds to 2.6 percent of Coop's annual revenue. The company generated an ROI of 64 percent, Furtado says.
Furtado emphasizes that customer data is not a static entity. Household data is evaluated every two months, and inactive households, email addresses, and opt-out customers are removed. In addition, the company encourages members to regularly update their profiles and provide more data in return for a more personalized experience every time they shop.

Next, the company will incorporate new data fields into the database to represent more individual interactions, and will combine internal and external data to improve each customer record. In addition, there will be more attention paid to optimizing relationship channels, especially digital and interactive ones such as email marketing, point-of-sale, and mobile. The company also plans to deploy "relationship agents" in each store to monitor the service and relationships there.

The company's numerous efforts all have one central goal, Furtado says. "The end result is the creation of a productive relationship cycle that increasingly helps our customers and helps us attend to their needs."


Source: 1 to 1 and Gartner

Strategy for Unsiloed Digital Dialogue

In the future there will be two kinds of companies; those that are agile and adapt to consumers’ changing media behavior and those that goes out of business (Forrester Research).


We want to create a uniform view of the customer, helping to fuel more genuine, rewarding relationships. The goal is to make the customer’s experience with our brand more cohesive, more accommodating and more enjoyable.


No construction crew starts building a house without a solid set of blueprints. Why should our approach to integrated marketing be any different? Here is a simple frame work to follow when developing a strategy for communication that seamlessly moves from one interactive channel to another.

1. Start with the brand promise, what does the brand stand for, what are the unique value props and what do we promise the customer. This will help us delivering the same promise across all channels.


2. Get to know the customers, in and out. Where do we find them?


3. Pick and be present in the channels most of them are; email, mobile, social such as Twitter and Facebook, wall posts, blogs, video posts.


4. Find out who in the organization communicate regularly with the customers; customer support center, sales, marketing, PR? Get a greater communication impact by knowing where the customer touch points our company.


5. How you define success drives the strategy. What is success for us? Customer satisfaction, complaints answered, returning customers…

Answer these five questions and we have a good base for developing our communication strategy for the future.

Source: Exact Target

My favorite book this week is Curation Nation

The last sentence in chapter 4: Curation is the future of consumer conversation. Curated content is a buzz word in magazines and newspaper, but far more than that, marketers find that their brands can longer tell their story in a massive one way voice.

Customer conversations about their product are happening in big, public, uncontrolled ways. Brands no longer control their own story, mass media is turned up side down.

Lessens to be learned
“Dell sucks” – do the search on Google. Try your own company too.

Negative talk can be gathered and amplified as blogs such as Jarvis’s handful of personal blog posts that turned into a full- fledged platform of consumer unhappiness and anger with Dell. Another example is ComcastMustDie.com which had 10 000 visitors and 1000 comments the first 2 months of the site’s operation. Comcast started to listen!

Brands can’t dictate their entire brand story; it will be influenced by good and bad customer stories. The only choice is to aggregate and organize – curate the brand and customers stories.

Learn the lesson of listening
Shut up and pay attention to what is being said about your brand. After all the people on the receiving end have their online voice, they are collaborators, participants and members of a community. Then engage proactively by curating the content.

The best?
Pepsi listen to what people say and give voice to their perspectives through public voting on grant projects and inviting its core customers in planning brand and product innovation, Mountan Dew Voltage is a result of this approach and is regarded as one of the most successful launches in PepsiCo’s history. Their strategy is to crowd source an aggregation of suggestions, feedback and complaints.

Watchdog group
Crowd content without curation tend to drive and amplify negative voices, but when you add a human editoral layer, a curational perspective that organize gathered content and community participation, you will get results.


No doubt, balanced communities curated to be about honest feedback and customer solutions will emerge as a new and powerful force in consumer and brand interactions.

And that was only chapter 4...

Company Research Made Easy!

Before signing on a new client, going for a job interview or inviting a new partner on board, do your home work! A proper company research can save you a lot of pain and headaches later and allows you to discover whether or not a company is going to be a good match for your needs. Effective research may help you discover that your dream company might actually be a nightmare!

• A great place to start is your local Better Business Bureau website http://www.bbb.org.


• Conducting a quick Google search on any company will provide a plethora of information from a variety of sources.


• Your local Chamber of Commerce has great information about local companies. You can use the search tool at http://www.chamberofcommerce.com to find your local Chamber branch. Most will have links to the city or county's Economic Research Bureau to provide a local economic outlook.


• Google also has a great news article search tool, http://news.google.com. Conducting a search on the company, its competitors, and the overall industry can provide insight into how a company is positioned within an industry.


• Hoovers.com - http://www.hoovers.com


• Yahoo Finance - http://finance.yahoo.com


• Inc. 5000 - http://www.inc.com/inc5000/


• Sperling's Best Places - http://www.bestplaces.net/

Note to self: NFC

What is NFC - Near Field Communication?

It is a short range wireless RFID technology that makes use of interacting electromagnetic radio fields instead of the typical direct radio transmissions used by technologies such as Bluetooth.

It is meant for applications where a physical touch, or close to it, is required in order to maintain security. NFC is planned for use in mobile phones for, among other things, payment, in conjunction with an electronic wallet, and for setting up connections between Bluetooth devices (rendering the current manual Bluetooth pairing process obsolete). The technology is promoted by the NFC-Forum.

Simply said, it is the use of the cell phone as we now use our credit cards. The techonology does not seem to find it break through yet, but maybe as the use of smart phones are exploding, we will see credit card companies will take the lead?

Crowdsourcing basics

Crowdsourcing takes the phrase “two heads are better than one” to a whole new level. Online, this encompasses a range of things, but essentially asks users to share their knowledge, come up with new ideas or simply engage with one another.

Its originator, Jeff Howe http://crowdsourcing.typepad.com./about.html calls it "the act of a company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call." Arguably the first example of crowdsourcing comes from Google itself. A site’s ranking on a Google search engine results page largely depends on how it links to other sites. In essence, this means that if many other sites link to yours, it is deemed more reliable and creeps up the rankings. So, from sourcing opinions from a crowd of other websites, Google is assisted in creating its rankings.

Here are some of the most interesting crowdsourcing sites:

Wikipedia – Perhaps the most well-known, Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia entirely compiled by user-generated entries. Today it has been called an equal to established volumes like Encyclopaedia Britannica, proving that crowdsourcing is not only effective, but also valuable.

Idea Bounty – Big brands offer creative briefs, anyone can submit ideas and the best one gets paid. A great way to get fresh input.

Gogme.biz – This is more than just a business social networking site, Gogme.biz allows entrepreneurs to form partnerships and turn their ideas into realities. The site is a one –stop shop for everything entrepreneurs need, from advice to tools to business partners, showing how crowdsourcing can be used for the business-good.

iStockPhoto – This is credited as the Internet’s first photo sharing site and allows artists to upload their work and for anyone to purchase it. The basic premise is that anything bought off the site is royalty free, giving creatives a platform to exhibit and sell their work and brands or companies a cheaper, more creative place to find what they need.

According to an article in 1to1Executive Dialogue, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, another example of crowd sourcing is in customer service where social media is used by customers to help other customers. Verizon has customers who spend up to 20 hrs per week online answering customer questions from other customers about technical issues. How it works: If you have a question about how to set up your new high-def television, you may not find the answer on the FAQs at Verizon’s website. But if you post your question on Verizon’s customer service website, odds are it will not be answered by a Verizon employee, but by another Verizon customer. And the advantage is obvious: Provide customers with rapid support while lowering the customer service cost.

You can’t manage social media

Social media can’t be managed, but you can participate. And Social CRM it is often a misused term – meaning using social media to sell more stuff. It will not work!

Social media is about:

• Cross functional collaboration – making people from HR, PR to sales and marketing work together in ways they have never done before.


• Integration of communication channels across all the touchpoints you use to connect customer including email, social, mobile and web.

Meaningful dialogues
Many struggle defining what Social CRM means to their organization, as well as how to get started. Clearly there is a business discipline that needs to be developed, whatever you call it, it has to do with how to participate in social settings with customers in ways that are productive for the business.

Start with being a good listener
One good advice ist to apply analytical tools to access the numbers of mentions about your brand or products and to what degree they are positive or negative.

Here are some interesting views on how to look at social media:
Morgan Johnston, Manager of Corporate Communications at JetBlue:

"Social media is like an information booth. We are there to
serve, we are listening and we are there when people reach out, when they have
questions. And sometimes those questions turn into sales."

Jesse Engle, CEO, Co Tweet by Exact Target:

"One of the most important thing companies can do is to learn how to
become adept at the art of conversation."

What is the ROI of social media?
The answer is what is the ROI of a hug? A lot of what social media is about is to embrace people and make them feel as if they are valuable wheather that is ti get increased amplification and exposure from fans or to engage people who have had a negative experience resolved and now like you. But seriously, here is what to measure:

Short term: Your ability to read and react in real time to your
customers (impact of campaigns and how they drive conversion)

Long term: Building ongoing loyalty and customer retention .

TIP! Who is in dialogue with the customer, the company or the company employee?
Humanize your brand online. Comcast found that people began to see the company as a collection of human beings rather than a faceless, monolithic organization. And saw the tenor of the conversations change when they introduced Frank.

Souce:
Co Tweet by Exact Target, the “go-to” social media platform for the worlds most admired brands

Mobil and Loyalty

At the International CTIA convention an Express executive stressed that retailers need to use mobile to take their loyalty efforts to the next level.

I quote him:

“I can tell you our mobile site users are on our mobile site just as long as they’re on our Web site,” “And they’re on our app a little more than half as long.

“They’re very engaged – they have the phone in their hand and wherever they are, whatever they’re doing, when the thought to buy something comes, I want to sell it to them.”

It is all about loyalty!
When brands and retailers tie in loyalty to their mobile component, it becomes an incredible tool that lets them market one-to-one with their customer.

The name of the game is to:

1. Get hold of your marketing group. The more channels they use to connect with you the more money they’re going to spend.
2. The more engaged you have your customer in your brand, the more you’re going to build value that’s going to flow throughout your brand.
3. Your executive staff must get passed the view of a single channel.
   

What do you do with these people who are doing product comparisons?

When consumers began scanning products in-store, it created fear in the retail industry. It forces retailers to do that active process to find out what their competitor’s prices are and make sure they’re competitive.

Here is what to do:

1. Make the in-store experience seamless for customers.
2. Make sure that there are not a lot of steps that it will take for consumers to complete a transaction.
3. Make sure that the technology that they’re using reduces the amount of steps.
4. Encourage interaction with the products.
   

Also:

• Retailer applications and mobile sites enable consumers to make much more educated purchases.
• Mobile creates another opportunity for retailers to engage with people.

What not to do:

• Cut and paste from the Web site to the mobile site.
  

What to do:

• The customer knows what he wants, you have to give them the opportunity to purchase something in 60-seconds.
• Make elegant and simple solutions.
• Retailers have an opportunity to make a two-way conversation with customers and it all comes back to your brand and the user experience.

And a few points about bar codes:

• Currently, more companies are using mobile bar codes to drive consumers in-store.
• Mobile bar codes provided additional content for users – whether it’s a video they can watch to learn more about the product or a coupon that they receive when they scan it.

Think about it!

It used to be that consumers were empowered by a talk to the salesperson. Now you got 3 billion people on this planet with a camera phone and they can take a photo or scan a bar code and find out all kinds of relevant information about your product.

Social Media Strategy

The key to social media success lies in a clear social media strategy.

So, in order to use social media for long-term business benefits you have to address the needs and wants of the users while simultaneously ensuring that key business goals are being met.

This is never straightforward, especially as social media and online communities can affect many areas of your business, from product development through to PR and advertising.

Make therefore sure that you secure buy-in from all relevant employees across all teams.

Steps to define the strategy:
1. Define the process.
2. Conduct workshops with the stakeholders to take a unified approach to social media.
3. Identify a social media strategy that's based on your brand values and strategic goals, giving you results that are measurable, accurate and useful.

Do it yourself or with the help of a consultancy.

What does true multichannel mean?

Many companies send messages via direct mail, email, mobile and social – but that does not make them multichannel. True multichannel means using all channels seamlessly in one platform to create a multithreaded dialogue that matches customers’ behavior across channels.

Customers are empowered – engaging with each other to give opinions on brands, so brands have lost the control of the message. If you want to stay in business, you have to take customer centric strategies seriously. NO CHOICE!

Here I am listing 2 basic requirements for multichannel conversations with the customer:
1. TRUST – the customer must trust that you act in their interest and don’t abuse him or her privacy.
2. CONFIDENT THAT YOU ARE COMPETENT – the customer must believe that you are competent to recognize me when I am online as the same person who’s ID number was in use at the call center yesterday.

3 Necessarry steps toward true multichannel
1. System integration – system that communicate with each other
2. Information integration
3. Break down organizational silos – people that communicate with each other

But the most important attitude is:

Delight your customers – that must be what we WANT to do every day!

Remember:

A customer don’t care how we organize our data og technology, they care about how they are communicated with. To be someone that goes that extra mile to deliver exactly what they want – and that probably means you have to be supported by a single platform capability to deliver htat dialogue and service.

What is your customer’s impression of the conversation?
Does he think the the the conversation is integrated, then it is.

The single most important issue
Put youself in the place of the customer, try to see all the interactions that a customer will have through the eyes of the customer themselves. The more customer insight you have, the better prepared you’ll be to adopt the customer oreiented perspective

Companies to look to for best practice:
Dell and American Express (Forrester ‘s 2010 Voice of Customer Award cited for their active use of customer data collecting and act to drive that real-time customer experience)

Sources:

http://www.thunderhead.com/ and http://www.peppersandrogersgroup.com/

Tactics for developing content

I need marketing content and messaging. Where do I find it? What is the cost, how do I define my quality requirements, who can write, where do I recruit writers, can I seek them out internally, who can write for me outside the organization? Can I use a consultant or agency?

What do other marketers do?

On my pursuit of answering all these questions, I found that Marketing Sherpa had asked nearly 1 000 B2B marketers what was their most effective tactics helping them to develop marketing content and messaging.

Their top 5 was:
1. Repurposing and reformatting existing content from press releases, blog posts and white papers
2. Encourage customers to submit testimonials and case studies
3. Recruit internal authors from other departments
4. Outsource – use agency or freelancer with in depth knowledge and understanding of the brand
5. Use social media to encourage brand advocates to produce content

Good to know! This has become my most important source list.

Bør du skrive selv?

Svaret overrasker kanskje? Bob Bly en anerkjent tekstforfatter, svarer et entusiastisk "yes" -

Hvis 3 betingelser er oppfylt:

1. Du er god til å skrive.
2. Du liker å skriver nyhetsbrev, artikler, whitepapers osv.
3. Du har tid til å skrive kopi.

Bedriftseiere og markedssjefer som oppfyller disse 3 kriteriene er ofte bedre til å produsere gode tekster for bedriften sin enn proffene.

Hvorfor?

Fordi de kjenner produktet og markedet inngående og fordi de lever med bedriftens problemstillingene hele tiden. Halve jobben med å skrive gode tekster er å ha en grundig innsikt i kunden og produktet, derfor har også bedriftslederen og markedssjefen en fordel som andre ikke har - hvis de kan skrive da.

På den annen side, liker du ikke å skrive, får du det ikke til, resultatet ikke blir som du ønsker skrive eller ikke har tid til å skrive - er det bedre sette det ut til en byrå- eller en freelancer.

Hva selger best, fordeler eller egenskaper?

Du har hørt det før: Når du skal selge produktet ditt, snakk om fordelene framfor egenskapene. Men det er litt mer komplisert enn som så.

Men det er litt mer komplisert enn som så. For å gjøre salgsjobben din enklere og mer effektiv kan du forsøke å beskrive produktet ditt på 4 nivåer.

Hvorfor?En ytterligere oppdeling i fortrinn og ultimate fordeler vil gi kundene dine bedre anledning til å engasjere seg i produktet ditt. I denne artikkelen viser vi deg hvordan du kan gjøre det med noe så prosaisk som sykkeldekk - uten å nevne merke.

Her er de 4 nivåene:
Egenskaper
Fortrinn
Fordeler
Ultimate fordeler

Jo mer du forstår og lærer å bruke alle de 4 nivåene - og ikke bare egenskaper i salget - jo mer effektive vil du bli og jo mer morsomt blir det å selge.

Det laveste nivået er EGENSKAPER
En beskrivelse av produktets "ansiktstrekk" – en faktisk fysisk beskrivelse av produktet. For eksempel; egenskaper i et sykkeldekk er at det har stålfelg, 296 pigger og veier 1200 gram. Dette er gjerne ekspertuttalelser om tekniske funksjoner du ofte ikke har peiling på hva innebærer - og som trenger mer forklaring. Utrolig nok er det ofte denne typen informasjon vi selgere kan best, og presenterer oftest.

Neste nivå er FORTRINN
Et fortrinn er en funksjon produktet har som konkurrerende produkter ikke har. For å få den potensielle kunden interessert kan du vise hvordan produktet er annerledes enn konkurrentens. Dette er hva vi kaller differensiering. I dekkeksempelet vårt kan det være at våre dekk er det eneste radialdekket med stålfelg, som også har det mest effektive antall pigger på glatt is. Men vi er fremdeles på fakta uten å fortelle hva disse flotte fortrinnene betyr for kunden.

Vi flytter oss derfor opp i hierarkiet til neste nivå som er FORDELER
En fordel er hva produktet gjør for brukeren og hva de får ut av å bruke produktet. Tilbake til dekkeksempelet, kan fordelene være at du kan fortsette å sykle etter en punktering. Eller at du kan sykle sikkert på glatte vinterveier. Fordeler kan med fordel (!) underbygges av en dekktest, en kundeuttalelse, etc.

På toppen av hierarkiet finner vi de ULIMATE FORDELENE
Dette er fordelen med fordelen. Den viktigste måten produktet forbedrer brukerens liv på: Spare penger, spare tid, å tjene penger, selvtillit, sikkerhet, glede, nytelse eller lykke. I dekkeksempelet kan den ultimate fordelen helt enkelt være: "Sykler du med våre dekk, kommer du deg sikkert hjem til familien din i tide”. I B2B kan fordelen være "reduserer energikostnader", mens den ultimate fordelen er "gjør deg til en helt på jobben".

Fra teori til praksis hos deg
Når du skal gjøre samme øvelsen for produktet ditt, er målet å gi kunden din et rikere bilde av produktet eller tjenesten du selger. Bruk alle fire nivåer: egenskaper, fordeler, fordeler og ultimate fordeler.

Ultimate fordeler er kraftige, men de er gjerne for generiske... ikke spesifikke nok. For å gi troverdighet, kan du beskrive en konkret nytte (f.eks. reduserer energiforbruket med 50 %) som underbygger den ultimate fordelen (du blir helt på jobben).

For å skille produktet fra andre som leverer en lignende fordel, må du forklare fordelene - hvordan produktet er forskjellig fra eller bedre enn konkurrentene.

Neste gang du blir oppfordret til å bruke fordeler istedenfor egenskaper vet du bedre. Bruk begge! Hvorfor? Fordi folk er skeptiske til at produktet kan levere fordelene du lover... fordi alle lover de samme fordelene. Når du viser hvordan en bestemt funksjon leverer nytte, blir du også mer troverdig. Egenskapene i produktet ditt underbygger fortrinnene og fordelene, samt gir deg troverdighet når du beskriver den ultimate fordelen.

Trenger du tid uten forstyrrelser?

Trenger du ro fra forstyrrende ”pling” som melder om en konstant strøm av nye e-poster du må lese, bloggmeldinger som du bare må sjekke, microbloggere som krever oppmerksomhet, IM-meldinger du må svare på nå og Facebook oppdateringer…

Da bør du sjekke ut Freedom - en liten applikasjon som stenger deg ute fra internett i opptil 8 timer ad gangen. Trenger du tid til å konsentrere deg om å skrive, analysere, kode eller skape uten forstyrrelser? Legg inn tiden du trenger til å være i fred og nyt produktive timer i stillhet og ro.

Her kan du lese mer om du ikke bare vil trekke ut nettverkspluggen din: http://macfreedom.com/

Hva stopper nyttårsforsettene dine?

Husker du nyttårsforsettene dine fra i fjor? Hvis du er som de aller fleste av oss, er de glemt før januar er over. Derfor syns vi det passer nå mot slutten av januar med noen tips som kan hjelpe oss til å holde fast på nyttårsforsettene våre enda en stund.


1.Vær konkret. Sjekk at målene dine er spesifikke og målbare. Minn deg selv på målene dine hver dag. Heng dem gjerne opp på kjøleskapsdøren eller kontorveggen.
2.Er du kanskje litt for sta? Får du ikke til resultater? Prøv en ny vri. De 5 kg forsvant ikke med joggeprosjektet i fjor, hva med heller å se på hva du spiser?
3.Hold et øye med progresjonen. Kommer du nærmere målet, hvordan går det? Skriv ned resultatene, selv om de er små.
4.Juster underveis. Fungerer ikke fremgangsmåten, prøv noe annet og juster slik at det fortsatt er mulig å bevege seg mot målet.
5.Bestem deg for hvorfor du skal nå målet. Hva er det som motiverer deg? Vet du hvorfor du vil løpe New York Maraton, har du en effektiv medisin mot bortforklaringene og unnskyldningene dine når du heller vil slenge i sofaen enn å ta på joggeskoene.
6.Fortell andre om forsettene. Da jobber du litt ekstra – når du vet at andre følger med.
7.I går er i går – og ikke noe du kan endre. Du har dagen i dag til å gjøre det du kan for å nå målet ditt!
8.Feire underveis – kanskje ikke med et kakestykke hvis målet er å bli mindre, men med noe du setter pris og som skaper glede i hverdagen.

Om du skal slanke deg 5 kilo, trene til maraton 2012 i New York, finne en ny jobb eller bli en dyktig e-postmarkedsfører kan tipsene over bidra til at du neste januar husker tilbake med tilfredshet på 2011- nyttårsforsettene dine.

Publisert i Vergil magasin og på www.vergil.no