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Will the Force be with VW in Sales?

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VW’s new ad scores for the cute factor. What’s not to love about a sweet kid in a Darth Vader costume? I thought the ad was adorable and fell deeper in love when I saw the adorable little boy, with the heart condition, out of costume. The ad went viral but is that enough to sell cars?

The struggle between creative and bottom line dollars is nothing new. Corporations want Marketing and PR to deliver visibility and creativity but if sales are down those departments are the first to be cut. Truthfully, I never bought into the epic battle with lines drawn, companies need all of the disciplines working together to reach their goals and today that is easier than ever to achieve.

Many say the lines have blurred between marketing, PR, sales and SEO. In truth, the lines have been articulated requiring deeper skill sets. What has changed are the lines of control. To be truly effective the disciplines must work collaboratively, sharing intelligence and co-creating ideas and campaigns with mutual respect for everyone’s unique skill set. The bottom line should be the same for everyone for without customers or profit you are not in business.

Yes there is room for cute kids with the force as long as that force drives action to the bottom line.

Posted via email from Marketing, Musings and More from Karen Swim

The Next Big Idea

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I have had the opportunity to view the inner working of hundreds of organizations. I am always amazed that in each company regardless of size, industry or location, there are employees who make improvements that are never captured by the company at large. You see, most people come to work wanting to do a good job and in the course of doing their job they  find a better, faster, more efficient way to get the job done. More often than not, they don’t seek credit or even give it much thought and the innovation or improvement remains undocumented and unheralded.

These days, viral is all the rage. Having your content go viral is the holy grail for many marketers.  However, opportunities are missed to culture an internal environment where big ideas go viral. Sometimes the next big thing is right under your own roof.  Social media is not exclusive to your external communities. Creating an internal environment that promotes sharing, where ideas can go viral may be the smartest move a company can make.

When’s the last time an idea went viral in your company?

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How Connected is Your Team?

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Years ago I worked for a clinical laboratory. As part of my new hire training, I spent a day in each department. I sat and listened to Customer Service Reps handle calls from clients, I rode with one of the drivers to pick up specimens, spent time in billing  and went into the lab in the middle of the night to observe the testing. I worked there for almost a decade and never forgot the experience of the training.

By seeing all of the parts that made up the whole I had an acute understanding of my role in the company. I was in Sales and my understanding of the whole gave me the knowledge to communicate with existing and potential clients. Because of the engagement created during my first week, I routinely spent time with other departments and when problems arose I was able to work as part of a team to quickly resolve it.

Numerous studies over the years have validated that when employees feel connected and purposeful, their productivity and performance is high. However, far too often organizations miss this critical step. They may incorporate it into training, as my company did, but fail to nurture it over time.  Employee engagement requires an ongoing organizational wide commitment to ensuring that employees feel valued and connected.

It’s human nature to want to feel connected and valued. As you’re creating value for your customers, don’t forget the people that pull together to make that happen. Take some time to make sure that they feel connected and appreciated.

How do you nurture engagement in your company? If you’re an employee, how does your employer make you feel valued?

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Extinguishing the Flames of Lack with Water

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Clean drinking water...not self-evident for ev...
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Having grown up and lived on the West Coast for most of my life, I was never far from the Pacific Ocean.  Stress, overwhelm, fear, and heartache were always soothed by time spent with the ocean air blowing across my face and the calming sound of the lapping waves. Unlike so many others across the globe water was available to nourish my body and my mind.  Without clean water, there is risk of disease and even death. Nearly 1 billion people lack access to clean water. I was shocked to learn:

  • African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.
  • Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.
  • Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.

“Filthy water cannot be washed.”–African Proverb

While clean water is a scarcity for some, over-industrialized countries suffer from over consumption:

  • Did you know that it takes 24 liters of water to produce one single hamburger?
  • It takes half a liter of water to charge an iPhone which means 40 million liters of water to charge the iPhones of the more than 80 million active iPhone users.
  • It has been said that women have to try on 20 pairs of jeans before finding the right fit. Those jeans however are more than a serious investment of your time, each pair takes 6,813 liters of water to produce.

This week we had the wonderful opportunity to witness the rescue of the trapped Chilean miners. The rescue effort has been a model of crisis management. The government took swift action and called on international expertise. People came together without a political or personal agenda but united with one single purpose – to free the trapped miners. Today we have the opportunity to play a part in our own miracle. Today we can speak with a single voice and help bring clean water to those in need.

What you can do:

The official charity of Age of Conversation 3 is charity:water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.. Charity Water is also one of the participating partners for Blog Action Day. Today, we’d like to make a major splash on the Amazon charts and raise money for charity:water.

  1. Buy the Book and send others to buy the book. If you work in an agency, get your agency to purchase multiple copies and give them out as year end gifts. This is the #1 call to action, because this is where we want to see the most impact. NOTE: Please buy 1 copy at a time because Amazon counts bulk orders once, and please use these affiliate links, which will help us in tracking sales. Remember, all the proceeds from the book sales and referrals will go to charity water:

Together, we CAN make a difference.

This post is a contribution to Blog Action Day 2010. Were you aware of the lack of clean water for so many people? What does water mean to you?

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Get Media Coverage and Build Your Brand

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This is a guest post by award winning and Emmy-nominated TV journalist Dwann Holmes Olsen. One short year  after coming off the air to focus Media & Marketing for Non-Profits and SMBs, Dwann was named (1) of 30 Future Leaders of America by Ebony Magazine. With a long history of success, Dwann now helps ministries and business owners with marketing and media relations.

Years ago when I first started off in business on my own, it seemed like I was featured in the media all the time! Every where you looked, there was my head-shot with a different story.

Once the first article came out, I noticed something. More and more reporters started calling and with every new article, there seemed to be a new burst of energy from within and even on the outside.

No, the phones didn’t start ringing off the hook, but there was some clear indication that overall interest and website traffic spiked every time my company was featured in the media. Then next thing you know, one article led to another, to another …all without me having to spend a dime on lofty magazine ads, although I always made sure to have some sort of affordable media presence in my community so that by the time the articles and coverage started flowing, my brand was somewhat recognizable.

Then years later as I began to study what kind of stories seemed to draw the most attention, it was quite obvious.

HONORS & AWARDS!

Anytime you can win some sort of award, trust me, the buzz about your business will keep building.

For instance, when I was named one of Ebony Magazine’s TOP 30 FUTURE LEADERS of America, it seemed like everyone I knew was just as excited as I was. Not only did my local paper do a blurb on it but my hometown I grew up did one, so did my birth city. But that wasn’t it. My Pastor announced it from the pulpit, the Chancellor of the University I graduated from sent me a letter and the college paper announced it as well.  It was like INSTANTLY, my credibility was being leveraged, in ways I never imagined. All because I had a goal of wanting to be featured and I had a magnificent producer who worked to make sure my “entry” packet was stellar.

So, today I want to encourage you to set your sights high and GO FOR IT!

No matter what industry you are a part of know that there is always some sort of award, honor or competition you can strive for that could potentially net you spectacular complimentary press from all kinds of media outlets. (TV, print, radio etc…) (Tip: Use AwardSync to find awards by topic, region, role and more)

Just follow these simple steps to get started.

  1. Get Research:  Take your time and find out about the prestigious local and national industry awards that you or your business may qualify to compete in.
  2. Get connected:  Do your best to join  at least (1) local and (1) national industry specific trade organization that will help keep you in the loop regarding competitions
  3. Get Busy:  Once you’ve done the research and gotten connected it’s time to GET BUSY and start apply for competitions.  Since there is normally a cost associated with the application I recommend doing this on a quarterly basis and budgeting a certain amount of your funds for competitions.
  4. Get Coverage: Once you start winning or even placing in the TOP 5, it’s time to GET COVERAGE by creating and distributing professional press releases regarding your recent honors.

There’s NOTHING like being honored by a group of peers, especially those who are clearly at the top of their game in your industry.

Unfortunately, many solo-preneurs seem to forget or don’t seem to realize that good news surrounding winning a local, national or even international award is definitely worthy of announcing.

Meaning, it really is okay to brag on yourself when you are singled out for a stellar contribution. What’s even better is that the news media are the ones reporting on you, which in turn helps add a little bit of influence and integrity to your brand.

The great thing is that after you win, you are then able to create a press release that any local news outlet would want to highlight, especially if it looks like you’re a local SUPERSTAR right in the midst of your community.

That’s when you have to be prepared to Tell Your Story Like a Pro!

Is media a part of your marketing strategy? If not, why haven’t you leveraged this tool yet?

About Dwann Holmes Olsen

Dwann Holmes Olsen helps small to medium sized businesses, entrepreneurs and ministries with their media and marketing strategies through coaching, consulting and producing. You can learn more about her signature media coaching program for business owners at Tell Your Story Like a Pro .

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Think Big, Act Practical

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Image by cinnablythe via Flickr

In part 2 of my interview with  Solo Business Coach and Entrepreneur, Trish Lambert she tells all about her Fuzzy Bunny Slipper Contest and the lessons learned in putting together the promotion. If you missed Part I, you  can read it here.

Contests can be a great marketing tool for solo and small business owners. It’s a fun way to promote your business while giving something of value to your community. So Trish, tell us about your contest?

I have wanted to find a way to really celebrate solo business owners for some time. We should be proud of ourselves for what we achieve and how committed we are.  So I conceived the Fuzzy Bunny Slipper Contest (named after one of the elements of the Success in Sweatpants logo). It asks entrants to submit a photo and an essay that answers the question, “Why are you a solo business owner?” in a creative and interesting way. To make the effort of preparing a submission worthwhile, I’ve put together a great prize list that includes: 64G  iPad  (Grand prize), networking Blu-ray disc player(2nd prize) , and a Flip HD Mino videocam (3rd prize) . There is also a bunch of business building products and programs in each prize level, courtesy of our expert panel: Donna Amos, founder of International Association of Solopreneurs; Peter Bowerman, The Well Fed Writer; Mike Michalowicz, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur; Adam Urbanski, The Marketing Mentor and Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad.

Submissions are open until October 19. Then the entrants need to kick into high gear and get everyone they can to vote for their entry. The 12 entries with the most votes will be passed on to an impressive panel of judges, who will select the winners.

How can people enter?

Go to the Success in Sweatpants page on Facebook and go to the “Contest” tab if you have already landed on it. “Like” the page to get access to the opt in box. Fill this in, and you will get directed to the contest entry page.

Can you share some of the things you have learned from running this contest?

I am learning a lot with this contest. One thing is that you  need  to be prepared to launch a very aggressive promotion campaign.  By “aggressive” I don’t mean “in your face.” I mean that promotional activities need to start well ahead of the contest (a month is not too long a time frame) and they need to continue at a high volume every day once it is launched. I have been amazed at how much promotion is needed to get noticed by people.

Another thing is certainly thought-provoking for me. You know how we are told all the time that we need to think big, go beyond our comfort zone? I think I need to come up with an edited version of that…something along the lines of “think big, act practical.” This contest is definitely a result of big thinking: photo PLUS essay, popular vote PLUS judging panel, “sexy” prizes. And in addition, I plan to create an ebook of all the entries and a 2011 calendar of the 12 finalists. If I had it to do over again, I would have scaled this down quite a bit. Perhaps just a photo contest, with winners selected by popular vote, because I have found  that making it as big as I have has also added layers of complexity, both for me and for the entrants. I promise you that the 2011 Fuzzy Bunny Slipper Contest will be much simpler!

Any other words of wisdom for solos?

It is so very important to remember why you started this journey, because going solo is always a challenge. Always.  Sometimes the challenges are small, and sometimes the challenges loom above us. Progress can seem slow, results elusive, tasks disorganized.  And there are simply those days where nothing is right, you wonder why you went out on your own, and thoughts of spiffing up your resume and going back to the old way flash across your mind.

Remembering why you are flying solo is your anchor any time the going gets tough. When you are in the middle of one of those big challenges, getting in touch with the real reason for all this will help you get through.

And celebrate yourself. You achieve more in one day than three people do back in the corporate world, and you need to stop and acknowledge that from time to time. It takes courage and commitment to be a solo business owner, and we need to keep remembering that!

Well said Trish, thank you!

Do you have promotion or small business questions for Trish? Please feel free to add your thoughts or questions in the comments. Don’t forget to enter the contest and please tell your friends and colleagues!

Trish Lambert is a solo business coach and entrepreneur. Her coaching helps solo business owners to stop spinning their wheels and produce the right results in  their business. A fervent believer in no gimmicks, just RESULTS, she helps solos to move  forward toward their goals.

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