Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category

LIAR, LIAR! (Pants on fire…)

Posted on: April 27th, 2010 by Travis No Comments

liar-pants-on-fireLike I tell my kids, Tell a lie and you may “get away with it”. But, if you get caught, the world will land on you like a Sumo Wrestler. In their latest ad General Motors claimed, “We have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest”. Oops, It’s turning out not to be true.

http://bit.ly/awJDtE

“It’s the oldest marketing/PR/Advertising mistake in the book: Don’t make a public statement if a rudimentary fact-check demonstrates that your claim is false. And certainly don’t have your CEO say it — which is what this ad does.” -bNet

Be honest with people in marketing your company, (In all facets of life, for that matter.) If you don’t, consumers will land on YOU like a Sumo Wrestler.

Truth in Advertising

Posted on: March 8th, 2010 by Travis No Comments

Don’t be afraid to use truth in Advertising. Sometimes it is the best approach to gain people’s attention and loyalty back. That was the approach that Domino’s Pizza chose. When thinking of Domino’s Pizza most people think of 1 thing- Fast Delivery equals crappy pizza! Either you have to be really hungry or really lazy to enjoy either of these “qualities” that Domino’s offered up.

In a recent interview between BNet and Russel J. Weiner, Chief Marketing Officer at Domino’s he describes the company’s dilemma and marketing solution.

Dilemma:

Domino’s pizza had strengths in categories such as value and delivery but failed in taste. Over the years they lost customers that “grew out of” the “cheap pizza is good enough” stage. Their recipe really hadn’t changed since the companies’ conception and if they wanted to gain back customers and earn new ones they needed to change.

Solution:

First, reinvent their pizza to correct the downfall in taste. Second, fess up to the mistakes and invite people back. They have launched their new campaigns centered around the message “We have heard you, our pizza sucked, and after 50 years we are fixing it” Wow! Talk about airing their dirty laundry! In preparing the market a their new pizza, they realized that customers can smell a line of PR BS a mile away! This massive problem wasn’t going to be fixed without some honesty.

Lessons to be learned:

  1. Listen to your customers before they aren’t your customers any more.
  2. Ask for critisim
  3. Listen to critisim- and face it head on!
  4. Don’t be afraid to make changes- Times change. To think your business is not going to need to change with them is basically signing your own death certificate!
  5. Generate Pride in you Employees- I would bet that there is a huge vibrancy within these restaurants that hasn’t been seen in awhile. Employees want to be a part of something great!
  6. Let people on the inside- Dominos has taken this opportunity to let us understand what they have done over the last 18 months to improve this problem. This transparency is rare. But by doing so they have let us take this exciting journey with them. We are invited to participate in this transformation by trying the pizza, connecting online and really feel that we have a voice that would be heard. I know this is ‘only pizza’ but can you imagine having that much input on ALL the products that are important to you?
  7. Companies can no longer ignore the importance of social media and use of online tools. This is where you find your “focus groups”. Listen and learn what people are saying about your product, brand, or company.

Link to Interview: http://www.bnet.com/2403-13058_23-387022.html?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

Link to the Domino’s Story: www.pizzaturnaround.com

Lessons learned from Super Bowl Ads.

Posted on: January 27th, 2010 by Travis 7 Comments

Football is an American mainstay- a tradition. It has been blamed for family tragedies such as wives becoming “football widows” for 5 months of the year, to it being celebrated for bringing people closer through tailgating, football parties, and common Monday morning quarterbacking.

This year, the Super Bowl falls on February 7th and is highly anticipated by both hardcore fans and the “football widows” alike; maybe for different reasons, but a major year’s mile-marker non-the-less.

According to a recent Neilson poll, not just the football game is the star that night. The commercials to many outshine the game. We all know there is a lot of talk about the commercials aired during the game each year for weeks following- were they funny, how much did they cost to make and run, and which were favorites. In fact, according to the poll, 51% said they most enjoyed commercials that air throughout the game when compared to the Super Bowl game itself.

The poll also revealed that traffic to the advertiser’s websites spiked on the day after last year’s Super Bowl. Also, in the last five years, the biggest Super Bowl advertiser is Anheuser-Busch, which spent over $100 million on its Bud and Bud Light brands alone.

Now, I know most businesses can not afford to spend $100 million on a 1-day ad campaign and honestly, I wouldn’t advise my clients to do it if they had the money. However, there are a couple very valuable lessons to be learned.

  1. When you run an ad anywhere- link it back to your website. You can track it, interact with people, and capture data for future marketing.
  2. Using traditional media to funnel people to your website is a sound idea. There are many studies showing how much time is spent watching TV and spending time on the Internet. Each medium is impressive in their own respect.  A Neilson study shows people watch TV on average 32 hours per week, but as much as 57 hours a week the TV is playing in the home. Equally, reports show that the average person spends almost 33 hours per week on the Internet. These two avenues are a perfect fit to create crossover campaigns!
  3. The biggest spenders are not always the only winners- not even close! Last year, Miller High Life couldn’t buy ads in the Super Bowl because Busch had the exclusive on it. Instead, they wisely bought their time through local market NBC affiliates and bought 1 second ads instead of thirty second ads. Smart and thrifty! That mindset fit perfectly with their “good, honest beer at a tasty price”.
  4. Be Creative! It doesn’t always take high dollar spots to get your message across. In today’s Internet age, people only expect things to be quick, creative, and REAL. Again, I note the Miller 1 second commercials. They weren’t fancy, they were funny, and they were real. They were also talked about long after people stopped talking about all the other Super Bowl Ads.
  5. Create your own hype! Miller is another good example of this. Prior to the “1 second ads” coming out they ran a 30 second commercial talking about the 1-second ads http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jabk8BR0M64, then launched www.1SecondAd.com (No longer up). I love this idea! People got a taste of what they were going to see during the Super Bowl. They searched for it; they talked about it, and people blogged about it. Their so much hype about this last year that leading up to the game a Google search pulled over 98 million results for the 1 second ad. That was BEFORE they even aired! Here’s all the ads together – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9GwHnU2ESE

These lessons can be applied even to medium sized companies. Yes, the budget will be smaller. Yes, the response will be smaller. But really, it’s relative. The lessons can still be applied and the rewards will still be won.

We look forward to this year’s game and hope to see some amazing creativity with the advertising. Happy Watching!

Resources:

http://www.leveltendesign.com/blog/chris/miller-high-life-1-second-super-bowl-ads-cut-back-when-times-get-tough

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/tv-time-how-much-television-do-you-really-watch.html

http://www.podcastingnews.com/2008/02/25/podcasting-statistics-television/

Why Twitter Matters TO YOU!

Posted on: September 18th, 2009 by Travis 3 Comments

Last year, a friend of mine first introduced me to Twitter. He showed me how it worked, then showed me how he was using it. For 2008, he decided he was going to count his sneezes for the year and ‘tweeted’ each time he did so. “Why do people care?” I thought. Well, it doesn’t matter why, what matters is they do.

The key question today is how a service with bite-size messages topping out at 140 characters can be smart, useful and maybe even necessary. In August Twitter had 24 Million unique visitors making it the 38th most visited website on the web, growing far beyond its circles of hard-core social networkers. That’s 10% of the country, which means that’s 10% of the city/area you do business in is on Twitter.

Businesses everywhere are now using Twitter to respond to customer queries and launch new products. Market researchers look to it to scope out minute-by-minute trends. Media groups are focusing on Twitterers as first-to-the-scene reporters. Loads of new applications are growing around the Twitter platform, leading some to suggest that the microblogging service could become a powerhouse in social media.

If you want more information on how we can inexpensively gain you market share Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media, we’d love to help skyrocket your business email us.

You can follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/seo_results

For those of you dying to know, Mitchell sneezed 810 times last year.

How taking care of your clients pays off in the long run.

Posted on: September 14th, 2009 by Travis 16 Comments

All business owners think they give great customer service, but, what would your customers say about your customer service? Do you take care of your customers problems to pacify them? Or, do you tackle customer problems and give them more than they expect to correct a error?

If your willing to do the latter, it will reward your company 10 fold.

For example, last week my wife and I decided to take our family to The Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. The facility was outstanding. The hotel and water park were clean and the rooms were excellent. We only encountered 1 problem. When we decided to go to bed, we noticed the mattresses were sagging in the middle. Not ideal, but, not the end of the world either. The friendly staff and clean facility more than made up for a ‘fair’ nights sleep. Upon checkout my Father mentioned the mattresses to desk clerk, who immediately got the manager to discuss the problem. My Father explained the problem to the manager but also let him know it was a minor problem and did not overshadow our great experience at his resort. The manager apologized and we figured that would be the end of it.

Until today. Today I found an envelope in my mail box from The Great Wolf Lodge, I opened it expecting a receipt from our stay. Instead I found a letter from Keith, the General Manager, again apologizing for the problem and also enclosed was a certificate for a free night stay in a 2 room suite! WOW! This gesture was unexpected to say the least. After reading this letter and seeing the lengths this company goes to to make a customer happy, I am excited to go return to The Great Wolf Lodge with my family. As a business owner, I travel to Kansas City often, now whenever possible, I will be bringing my family on these trips to stay with the folks at The Great Wolf Lodge. A once a year trip just turned into once a month.

Do yourself and your company a favor and take your family down to The Great Wolf Lodge and experience customer service at its finest. From the front desk clerk to the guy handing out tubes at the top of the water slides. Then compare it to how your company serves your customers.

Here’s their website: www.greatwolf.com

This is not your Father’s Republican Party?

Posted on: September 4th, 2009 by Travis 13 Comments

What can you learn about how a business is run by observing our elected officials? A TON!

As you know we have 2 major political parties in the US. The Democrats are very savvy online, hosting blogs and using social networking like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Etc. The Republicans are finally “warming-up” to social networking but are not taking aggressive action. Even if they do, they are light years behind. In the last Presidential election of adults 18-34 that voted, 70% voted for Obama. Why? Obama had out performed McCain online. Obama posted 1,823 videos on YouTube to McCain’s 330. Obama had 134,004 YouTube Subscribers to McCain’s 29,201. On Facebook McCain had 617,019 “friends” following him, Obama had 3,048,337. Obama’s website was designed with 18-34 year olds in mind, it was “hip” and “cool” McCain’s was far from it.

Obama’s team effectively made Republicans look like we were the Oldsmobile of politics. Here’s the comparison:

In 1987 Oldsmobile hit a record low in annual sales 1.07 million vehicles. The public perception of the line was “It’s a car for old people.” In 1988 they changed their tactics and launched the multi-million dollar campaign “This is not your Fathers Oldsmobile” but they did not adapt and change the direction of its product line. Sales continued to plummet. Down to… 537,856 in total sales in 1992, 387,545 in 1998, 265,878 in 2002 and 136,215 in 2003, the year before they discontinued the line. The last car to roll off the line? An Alero 4-door Sedan. In those 17 years since recognizing the problem… they never changed the product and now they’re out of business.

Fast forward to today. Young people see the Republican Party as a bunch of “rich old men” and their votes demonstrated it clearly. If the Republicans could have closed the gap from 70/30 to 55/45 we would have elected a different man president.

So what does this mean to you? Take a look at your website, is it appealing to new younger consumers? Are you engaging in social networking? How are you capturing today’s 18-34 markets? If your site is old, dated and lacking a blog, and if you’re not engaging in social networking, you’re in trouble because you’re not keeping up with your competitors.

Are you the Oldsmobile of your industry?

LocalAdLink on the verge of Collapse?

Posted on: July 30th, 2009 by Travis 36 Comments

A few months ago I posted a report about a company called LocalAdLink (LAL). Since then, it looks as though the company has started to collapse. There are thousands of people that are “bailing out”, LocalAdLink has started to bounce checks and lawsuits are being filed. Just last month (June 09) LAL’s web traffic declined 47.28% and advertisers are speaking out about not getting any ads for their investment and when the ads are posted that the traffic is dismal at best. Unfortunately, LAL’s sales representatives are still out there trying to “sell the soap” and save the company.

As we said before, LocalAdLink is not a solid business investment. Don’t fall prey to it.

Here are a few of the thousands of “rip-off” reports out there:

http://mylocaladlinkjourney.blogspot.com/2009/03/truth-about-local-ad-link.html

http://www.localadlinkreview.blogspot.com/

http://hubpages.com/hub/Local-Ad-Link-Scam

http://whystart.net/?p=22&cpage=1#comment-116

http://iripoff.com/5067/Local_Ad_Link.html

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/448/ripoff0448128.htm

Can the Phone Book really build my company website and optimize it?

Posted on: July 27th, 2009 by Travis 46 Comments

The Yellow Pages are on the ropes and if you don’t believe me schedule a meeting with your Yellow Pages representative. They’ll indirectly tell you the exact same thing. Because of the decline of phone book usage and the increase in competition, every phone book company has been sent scrambling to find something to keep them afloat. And, they think they have found it… Websites and Search Engine Optimization. In fact, Yellow Book has purchased a Florida based Web-Marketing firm called Click Forward. Combined they are offering a very similar product to Local AdLink. A few months ago we highlighted this scam in a newsletter called “Local AdLink Opportunity or Scam”. Basically here is how it works…

Yellow Book offers you several options to design a “website”. Now, this website is not really a website, it’s what we call a ‘landing page’ which is essentially 1 page of information about your company that is on the Yellow Pages website (not your own web address). This is not a website, it’s more like a leaflet that is posted on the World Wide Web. It’s difficult to find on its own because your web address will be something like: http://www.yourcompany.clickforward.com. Now that your leaflet is “out there” you’ll need Search Engine Optimization to get consumers there, so, the Yellow Pages will offer you a monthly SEO / SEM package. Because the cost of these packages vary based on the industry you are competing in and the cost of “adwords” your prospects are searching for, there are no set prices. So, for this example let’s say the monthly investment level is $500. Yellow Book will then pick a few keywords that describe your business and anyone logging on to Google (or Yahoo or Bing) within a specified area (based on zip codes around your location), if that user types in your keywords, your business will be displayed either on the “Sponsored Links” across the top or “Sponsored Links” down the right side of your search results. These links usually cost between 5¢ and $1 per click, depending on how many companies are “bidding” on the term(s) your business falls under. Considering that they are only buying these Adwords locally and not a nationwide, almost all terms are going to be on the low side of this estimate. Of your $500 investment you are going to receive about $10-$20 worth of Google Adwords, meaning 96% of your monthly investment is profit for the Phone Book.

This year when you sit down with your Phone Book rep, you’ll notice that he will work harder to sell you a website and offer to help optimize it then put the hard sell on you for next years phone book ad.

Local AdLink is on the verge of bankruptcy and yellow pages has recently filed for bankruptcy http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200906/1244002336.html. It’s nice to see that this kind of unethical business practice is properly rewarded with bankruptcy. Don’t let your business fall to the failure of these companies.

Selling Real Estate on Craigslist – A 3-minute Marketing Lesson.

Posted on: July 1st, 2009 by Travis 3 Comments

The most expensive sentence in marketing is “Because we’ve always done it that way”. Over the last few months I found myself breaking this ‘Golden Rule’ by following the masses.

I own a rental house, in a small town in Nebraska that I decided to put up for sale about 3 months ago. Instantly, I said to myself “I need to hire a real estate agent and put this property on the MLS if I have any hope of quickly getting it sold.” So, I found an agent, signed all the paperwork and put a sign in the yard for only 7% commission…. Ouch. The first month came and went without much action, so we lowered the price. The next month came and went with only 1 semi-serious looker. Finally in the third month we had 2 good prospects but still no offers. We decided to take the house off the market, turn it back into a rental and wait for the market to rebound. With luck we found a renter immediately but they were not available to move in until September 1st (2 months away).  So, we decided to try and list the property ourselves. We put together all our information then posted it on Craig’s List (www.craigslist.org). In 3 minutes, we had a response from someone who was interested in the house and wanted to see it!  At the end of the first day we had 5 inquiries and 2 showings. On the second day we had 2 additional showings and a few more inquiries. We did more in 48 hours just on Craig’s List than with a real estate company in 3 months!

What does this mean to you and your business?

The biggest thing to take from this is: The way we do business and capture prospects is very different today then how we did it 3, 5 and 10 years ago. Don’t renew your Phone Book ads just because you’ve always done one, think about it before you sign up. Ask yourself why is the phone book offering you websites and Search Engine Optimization? Why does the Newspaper want to sell you ads and links on their website? Why are Direct Mail companies offering to help you send out mass e-mail campaigns?

The way we reach prospects HAS CHANGED. So, get on board or get left behind.

Marketing your company in an economic downturn.

Posted on: June 11th, 2009 by Travis 20 Comments

Looking back over 1st half of 2009 we see that the current economic downturn was on most everyone’s mind. This brought us to the realization that every business owner is desperately seeking an answer to the slow-down. So, we thought we would put some thoughts online.

Marketing in an Economic Down-turn:

1. Don’t believe the hype – Turn off the evening news. The economy is never as bad (or good) as it seems. Regardless of where you get it (ABC, NBC, CNN or Fox News) the Evening News is exploiting your worst fears and fear sells. It’s a never ending Soap Opera that keeps you tuning in night after night to see what happens next. The only way left for them to increase the “bad economy” hype is to hire Billy Mays or that “Sham-WOW” guy to deliver it to you. TURN IT OFF. When my friends and clients ask me “How is the recession effecting your business?” I simply tell them “We have decided not to participate in the recession this year”.

2. The Good News – Now that you have turned off the “Bad News”, here’s the good news. Economic recovery is on the horizon and it’s time for you to position your company for it. This is not the first slow-down the US economy has seen and you’re not the first business to go through one. Keep working on your business. Find a business owner that has taken his business through the recession of the 70’s, this man has a lot to teach you. Pick up a book on building a better company. This will get you in the right frame of mind to work on your business. My personal favorites are “From Worst to First” by Gordon Bethune and “Nuts” by Herb Kelleher.

3. Keeping What You Have – Keep marketing to your current and past clients. This is the cornerstone of marketing regardless of the economic situation. Everyone likes to think they have a 3rd Degree Black Belt in customer service, but are you really working hard to build and maintain a relationship with them after the sale? Just because someone did business with you and was happy, doesn’t mean they are automatically coming back. Your current clients are your competitors’ prospects and you’d better believe they are working hard to reach them and convince them to make a change. Remember, It’s less expensive to keep your current clients than to find new ones. Maintaining a relationship with them is much cheaper than trying to rebuild it later on.

4. People Forget FAST! – As much as we like to think our customers will never forget us, THEY WILL. How many times have you heard the name of a restaurant and said, “I haven’t eaten there in months!” Why? It’s not because the last time you were there the food was bad, or that the service was lousy, it was because you forgot, plain and simple. That restaurant did not get any advertising in front of you to remind you to come back. “Out of sight” equals “out of mind” and out of mind equals out of business. Keep marketing to your current clients. Your current clients are your competitors’ prospects.

5. Cutting Your Way To Victory – Cutting your way to Victory, is like spending your way out of bankruptcy. It’s not going to work. Managing your expenses is a part of business regardless of what the market is doing. Cutting your marketing expenses in bad times is a BAD IDEA. You need to be in front of consumers and remind them to come to your business. If your business is slow now, wait until you stop advertising!

6. Preparing for the Upturn – You know it’s coming, so let’s be the first ones in line to greet it. For decades, Toyota would keep their advertising to a minimum waiting for GM, Ford and Chrysler to declare a “slow market” and pull their advertising from the airwaves. Once they did, Toyota came out with guns blazing, grabbing up a huge share of the car buying market because they were the only ones asking for the business. What are your competitors doing right now? …Strap on your Six Shooter…

7. Building Your Brand – In an economic downturn your competitors are cutting back their advertising and that gives you a perfect opportunity to build up your brand. Are you the top restaurant in town? If not, here’s your chance! Best financing options for Carpet and Furniture? Cars and Trucks? Consumer goods? Now is the time to let people know. You may be the only one of your competitors advertising. And, with fewer advertisers out there asking for business, your message will stand out easier.

8. Bargains, Bargains, Bargains! – If you are hurting, rest assured – so are the local media outlets, making it the perfect time to bargain for ad space and time, both in price and position. In most cases the more advertising space you buy, the more it is discounted. So, if you’re considering placing long-term advertising, place it all now. Over the next 6 months, the economy will rebound and advertising prices will rise, so see what you can do to lock in the prices for the long term.

9. Capture Your Clients – Do you have the address and/or email address of your current clients? If not, GET IT. And, remember this information is not free! You have to give them something in return for the information or they will not give it to you. Getting this information will help you coax their prompt return.

10. Give Them Something Real – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say “I sent out a coupon for 10¢ off their next $100 purchase and no one brought it in”. Well, no kidding. Give them something real. Own a restaurant? Tell them you’ll send out a voucher for a free meal. Own a Golf Shop? Send them coupon for a dozen balls. Maintenance Shop? Send them a voucher for a free oil change. Your offer has to have NO STRINGS ATTACHED. This list is crucial to your future business. Don’t be afraid to spend a little money to get it and use it as a tool to build and strengthen your relationship.

11. Go forth with Faith. Make a plan and stick to it. We all know this economic slowdown will not last forever. Historically, the average downturn lasts 14 months. That puts us just past the midway point. Now is the time to position your company and focus on the good economy that’s on the horizon. By grabbing market share now and not waiting (like your competitors will). This will send them scrambling to catch you this fall.

I hope this information has been helpful to you. If there is anything we can do to help you through this slow-down please give us a call, we’d love to help!