I was glad to adopt one of my New Years Goals taken from a website that recommended: “eat breakfast like a king, dinner like a beggar.” I interpreted that to mean eat a small dinner, but not necessarily out of a trashcan with a glass of cooking sherry.
Anyway, this morning I followed the breakfast advice with a friend. Somewhere between his first and second egg, he mentioned that his college-aged daughter needed to curb her spending. Turns out, that even with a good allowance, she was over-spending on clothes.
“It’s unbelievable” he said, mopping his wheat toast across the plate, “she has many clothes in her closet, with tags still on them, unworn.” He shook his head. I added a comment or two, since I too have a daughter who believes designer clothes are near the top of the "Needs Pyramid”, just above oxygen.
We determined that women have some ancient biological compulsion for new clothes, different hair, and small shiny objects.
We admitted that we’d not changed our basic “look” for about 20 years. Same hair, shirt style, and jean brand. Simultaneously, we announced our “jean size” as clearly printed on the tag. I can’t imagine a lady proudly displaying her clothing size on the outside of the garment. I mean, even the “full figured dudes” don’t mind showing a 48 inch waist. By the way, all women will tell you they’re size 6, as if that means something.
This slight difference between men and women yields a significant marketing technique.
It may also ruin my marriage, so please don’t tell my wife.
If you look back at couples’ photographs, you’ll see the man has scarcely changed, except that job stress has caused his hair to shoot out of his head. The lady will have had 21 different hair styles (and maybe colors) since the photo was taken.
She may exclaim, “Oh, dear, I remember that blouse! That was ‘the style’ back then!” The man is incredulous because he’s wearing the same clothes in the picture, and potentially the same underwear.
I buy my dress clothes from a place that touts, “Quality clothing that never goes out of style.” If a ladies shop even uttered this phrase in a hushed tone, they would go out of business by sunset and mobs of angry but fashionable ladies would burn the place to the ground. I’m telling you, we’re a different species.
And this difference should reflect your biggest marketing shift for 2011. Big Question:
Who’s really doing the buying from you? Statistics say that 91% of in-home purchases (products and services) under $1,000 are transacted by the female. (Not ‘paying’, but ‘transacted’.) This drops to 69% for up to $2,500. After this, the man “acts” like his input is valued (a charade orchestrated by women since Eve and that whole apple fiasco) and ‘major’ purchases at $5,000 and higher climbs to roughly 50/50.
So, if the stylish, approval-conscious, thank-you note writing, sweet-salad eating, thoughtful one is doing nearly all the buying in your service range, who is your primary marketing target? Stay with me here…
Look at your ads. Is your message about “family comfort” or “cheap service”? Let me tell you, she may be a hard shopper, but she’s not cheaping out on clothes or her family. It’s insulting to put a “cheap” tag on her home and her values. Got it? Then drop it.
If your reason to advertise “Lowest prices in town” is just to get calls, don’t complain to me if you get a bunch of price shoppers. You basically begged ‘em to call.
Look at your landing pages. Does your website attempt to pound visitors with hard logic? Or befriend them with helpful advice? Does it use technical jargon, or display benefits that mean something?
Look at your newsletter. Are you talking about the greatness of your company and its glorious history? Save that for the company picnic. Tell buyers why that matters to them. No one likes a braggart, but everyone likes a problem-solver.
Look at the images in your marketing. Do you display a lot of trucks and tools? Great. Show that to the guys in the warehouse, they’ll love it. But unless they’re your buyers, get it gone.
Let this year be the year you shift your message to fit your true buyer.
1.Attract with emotions
2.Convert with helpful authority
3.Retain with friendly efficiency
Do this and you’ll have enough new business to make this your best year ever. Maybe spring for a new wardrobe. Nah. Buy her something instead. You’ll come out even farther ahead.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
How Can It be a Happy New Year if Your Sales Are in the Toilet?
In the post-Christmas headlines, turns out Santa will actually lease out reindeer this year to make ends meet. As a result, Blitzen has formed a hostile Union (I never trusted him anyway; sounded like a Commie name) Elves are marching at the Pole, demanding pay during the off-season. Sickening.
If the joy of Christmas was only in retail dollars, then we’d all be reading “‘Twas the night before Chapter 11”. Not exactly uplifting. Yet if you’re reading the good news out there, your perspective may be a little different.
• Americans are saving more money now. There is more money “on the sidelines” now than the entire GDP. Gosh, I wonder what they’ll spend it on when they’re ready to buy?
• Some store sales were off slightly for retailers, but the numbers of customers was down. Translation: Well-heeled customers are spending more per transaction. Further translation: Customer retention for valued customers critical. Spending retention dollars trying to lure cheap customers, financially off-setting.
• 9% Unemployment – I ain’t bragging about this number… except that the market is flooded with qualified talent. When we were last shopping for an employee during 2.5% times, my best applicant would’ve lost at “Are You Smarter Than a Door Knob”. I welcome the talent pool available. Probably time to “better the flock” for all of you.
• Recessions Breed Ingenuity and Efficiency. Good. Saving money, extending access, bumping “reasons to buy” benefits, increasing and rewarding retention… all good. Marginal contractors, those “afraid” to market, those who think “selling” is somehow beneath them will apply for jobs at those who don’t.
• In-home service contracting repair business actually increases – Why? Less elective replacement means more repairs. Pent up demand WILL cause a surge later. I’m no analyst, so no debates please. I’ll ONLY defend the first part of that prediction, which is reason enough to be clamoring for customers now.
Other Examples Of Sales And Marketing Lunacy For 2011
• Trying to say you’re different and better without proving either. Consumers are sick of trying to make your sales case for you. They don’t have time. You’d better be clear, repetitive and focused with your USP.
• Hoping customers will trust you and call you with no indication they should. Amateur ads look like ran them. (Hint: “Amateurs”.) Worn out claims with zero supporting evidence is what everybody else does. Prove the opposite: Use more testimonials than ever, laud your awards, plaster credible logos, boost guarantees. Run amateurs back in the corner. This economy will bring out lots of one-truck fast-buck contractors. If you blend in with them, to your market, you’re one of them. Good luck with that.
• Attempting to be found while playing hide and seek. If you go silent this year “trying to save money” you’ll also save tons of money by keeping your service fleet parked. No one is coming to look for you. I don’t sell media by the way, so I have nothing to gain, but I DO tell you to be excruciatingly smart with your media and marketing buys. (I’m sick of saying it, but “Cluster Control” and other strategies we’ve mentioned for the past several months are working.)
• Thinking you’ll get superior sales results from average performers. Contractors can’t be lazy, can’t accept the “same old same old” can’t expect new results from old methods. Much of this is training. Much also by copying examples of super-successful (such as our interviews in Mega-Marketer Club which many of you say is MORE valuable than my insightful editorials! How dare you!)
• Trying to go it alone. I’m in three marketing coaching groups, pay for various memberships and off-site seminars attempting to get better, stay better. It’s WAY more efficient for me to get the blueprints from others than trying to make ‘em myself. So trying to figure out your own taxes, write your contracts, create marketing strategy, sales boosters, and efficiency tweaks all while you’re trying to run a business is crazy. Ask your Trade Associations for help, check their resource pages. Pick an industry event (or more) where you can learn AND implement strategies to help you out. This alone will distance you from the complainers, the followers, the marginal. Plus, just getting with other successful seekers puts you in an Achiever’s Mindset that you’d never get sitting at your desk.
Those are some things that WILL make for successful contractors in 2011. You will be able to hire some of the best trades-people in the industry this year. Customers – left alone by their former contractor – will be waiting to latch onto professionals. Smart contractors will network with other smart contractors and trainers to get even better. Sounds like emerging opportunity to me. Sounds like a New Year worth celebrating after all.
If the joy of Christmas was only in retail dollars, then we’d all be reading “‘Twas the night before Chapter 11”. Not exactly uplifting. Yet if you’re reading the good news out there, your perspective may be a little different.
• Americans are saving more money now. There is more money “on the sidelines” now than the entire GDP. Gosh, I wonder what they’ll spend it on when they’re ready to buy?
• Some store sales were off slightly for retailers, but the numbers of customers was down. Translation: Well-heeled customers are spending more per transaction. Further translation: Customer retention for valued customers critical. Spending retention dollars trying to lure cheap customers, financially off-setting.
• 9% Unemployment – I ain’t bragging about this number… except that the market is flooded with qualified talent. When we were last shopping for an employee during 2.5% times, my best applicant would’ve lost at “Are You Smarter Than a Door Knob”. I welcome the talent pool available. Probably time to “better the flock” for all of you.
• Recessions Breed Ingenuity and Efficiency. Good. Saving money, extending access, bumping “reasons to buy” benefits, increasing and rewarding retention… all good. Marginal contractors, those “afraid” to market, those who think “selling” is somehow beneath them will apply for jobs at those who don’t.
• In-home service contracting repair business actually increases – Why? Less elective replacement means more repairs. Pent up demand WILL cause a surge later. I’m no analyst, so no debates please. I’ll ONLY defend the first part of that prediction, which is reason enough to be clamoring for customers now.
Other Examples Of Sales And Marketing Lunacy For 2011
• Trying to say you’re different and better without proving either. Consumers are sick of trying to make your sales case for you. They don’t have time. You’d better be clear, repetitive and focused with your USP.
• Hoping customers will trust you and call you with no indication they should. Amateur ads look like ran them. (Hint: “Amateurs”.) Worn out claims with zero supporting evidence is what everybody else does. Prove the opposite: Use more testimonials than ever, laud your awards, plaster credible logos, boost guarantees. Run amateurs back in the corner. This economy will bring out lots of one-truck fast-buck contractors. If you blend in with them, to your market, you’re one of them. Good luck with that.
• Attempting to be found while playing hide and seek. If you go silent this year “trying to save money” you’ll also save tons of money by keeping your service fleet parked. No one is coming to look for you. I don’t sell media by the way, so I have nothing to gain, but I DO tell you to be excruciatingly smart with your media and marketing buys. (I’m sick of saying it, but “Cluster Control” and other strategies we’ve mentioned for the past several months are working.)
• Thinking you’ll get superior sales results from average performers. Contractors can’t be lazy, can’t accept the “same old same old” can’t expect new results from old methods. Much of this is training. Much also by copying examples of super-successful (such as our interviews in Mega-Marketer Club which many of you say is MORE valuable than my insightful editorials! How dare you!)
• Trying to go it alone. I’m in three marketing coaching groups, pay for various memberships and off-site seminars attempting to get better, stay better. It’s WAY more efficient for me to get the blueprints from others than trying to make ‘em myself. So trying to figure out your own taxes, write your contracts, create marketing strategy, sales boosters, and efficiency tweaks all while you’re trying to run a business is crazy. Ask your Trade Associations for help, check their resource pages. Pick an industry event (or more) where you can learn AND implement strategies to help you out. This alone will distance you from the complainers, the followers, the marginal. Plus, just getting with other successful seekers puts you in an Achiever’s Mindset that you’d never get sitting at your desk.
Those are some things that WILL make for successful contractors in 2011. You will be able to hire some of the best trades-people in the industry this year. Customers – left alone by their former contractor – will be waiting to latch onto professionals. Smart contractors will network with other smart contractors and trainers to get even better. Sounds like emerging opportunity to me. Sounds like a New Year worth celebrating after all.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Never Too Late
“Never too late” is what many of you told me about the last editorial. Indeed it isn’t. It’s never too late to teach your children, nor to learn from them, nor to be a kid again.
Got some fabulous responses from you, including Mark Onuffer who said,
“I think the biggest thing my children have taught me is that you can have children today with their morals, thoughts, and direction in the right place. They have developed into an upstanding young man and woman, by making the right choices, using their minds and their common sense. I am very proud of them.”
Good to hear. If you watch much VHI, you’ll find that Mark’s first comment is a well-grounded concern!
Offering encouragement to those with children about to leave the nest, Deborah Strafuss said,
“Communication happens across many miles, without words. Stay connected, stay open, be accepting, always be who you are – they will always come back to connect and check in.”
Great advice. And with any luck, they’ll remember where to send the checks.
Yet, in a response mostly likely to cause a grown man to well a tear, came this…
As I leafed through dozens of kind responses, I came across this one. Stopped me cold, which turned into warmth. You’ll see.
“I learned from my son it is okay to be different. When he was 3 months old, he had a brain tumor removed that was about the size of an orange.
I was still in the Navy and the doctors said Ernie would never be this, and would never be that. They said he’d ‘always be dependent on someone else, that he’d always need someone to take care of him.’
He had it tough. Other kids picked on him. And all those things a father wants to teach their sons… to throw a ball, shoot some hoops and pass along what my father did for me, such as working with my hands. I could not do those things.
Yet I will say, the doctors were wrong on a couple points.
He is now 36 with children, working on his 2nd or 3rd Masters and working full time. He can look at a column of numbers and add them in his head faster than I can on a calculator. He may not walk or see well, but he has a good life and is happy.
He lives away now. He is independent. We talk often, but it is never enough. I first heard the song “Cats in the Cradle” bringing Ernie home from the hospital.
What a blessing it has been to have this gentle soul in our lives.
As fathers never really let go; but we must. I feel your pain and pride Adams; every day.”
Thank you, Dean Soliday for sending that message to all of us. I feel I’ve already unwrapped my present.
And lastly, it sounds like Kurt Wessling’s daughter may have the key to life when he wrote...
”My nine year old daughter is teaching me to relax. Not everything is so important. We we will get through the ‘stress’ in our life. Her advice to me is good: ‘Smile every day!"
When I think of children and Christmas, it brings a smile. For some, that smile changes from one based on the giddiness of an old man with a fantastic story named Santa, to the godliness of a young baby with an even more fantastic story named Jesus. Gifts from both, no matter your belief.
And part of our gift to you is to ask you to give something away, today. Give thanks to someone who’s not expecting it. Give encouragement to someone who needs it. Give time to listen to someone who feels they’ve run out of listeners.
Wherever you are, its’ never too late. Merry Christmas.
Got some fabulous responses from you, including Mark Onuffer who said,
“I think the biggest thing my children have taught me is that you can have children today with their morals, thoughts, and direction in the right place. They have developed into an upstanding young man and woman, by making the right choices, using their minds and their common sense. I am very proud of them.”
Good to hear. If you watch much VHI, you’ll find that Mark’s first comment is a well-grounded concern!
Offering encouragement to those with children about to leave the nest, Deborah Strafuss said,
“Communication happens across many miles, without words. Stay connected, stay open, be accepting, always be who you are – they will always come back to connect and check in.”
Great advice. And with any luck, they’ll remember where to send the checks.
Yet, in a response mostly likely to cause a grown man to well a tear, came this…
As I leafed through dozens of kind responses, I came across this one. Stopped me cold, which turned into warmth. You’ll see.
“I learned from my son it is okay to be different. When he was 3 months old, he had a brain tumor removed that was about the size of an orange.
I was still in the Navy and the doctors said Ernie would never be this, and would never be that. They said he’d ‘always be dependent on someone else, that he’d always need someone to take care of him.’
He had it tough. Other kids picked on him. And all those things a father wants to teach their sons… to throw a ball, shoot some hoops and pass along what my father did for me, such as working with my hands. I could not do those things.
Yet I will say, the doctors were wrong on a couple points.
He is now 36 with children, working on his 2nd or 3rd Masters and working full time. He can look at a column of numbers and add them in his head faster than I can on a calculator. He may not walk or see well, but he has a good life and is happy.
He lives away now. He is independent. We talk often, but it is never enough. I first heard the song “Cats in the Cradle” bringing Ernie home from the hospital.
What a blessing it has been to have this gentle soul in our lives.
As fathers never really let go; but we must. I feel your pain and pride Adams; every day.”
Thank you, Dean Soliday for sending that message to all of us. I feel I’ve already unwrapped my present.
And lastly, it sounds like Kurt Wessling’s daughter may have the key to life when he wrote...
”My nine year old daughter is teaching me to relax. Not everything is so important. We we will get through the ‘stress’ in our life. Her advice to me is good: ‘Smile every day!"
When I think of children and Christmas, it brings a smile. For some, that smile changes from one based on the giddiness of an old man with a fantastic story named Santa, to the godliness of a young baby with an even more fantastic story named Jesus. Gifts from both, no matter your belief.
And part of our gift to you is to ask you to give something away, today. Give thanks to someone who’s not expecting it. Give encouragement to someone who needs it. Give time to listen to someone who feels they’ve run out of listeners.
Wherever you are, its’ never too late. Merry Christmas.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
School’s Never Out for the Learner
This can’t be right. My son is not really going off to college next year. Heck, it was only a year or so ago I was coaching him in baseball, when “winning” a game meant less than the snow cone that followed. For the record, I stopped coaching when the 9 year-olds had better strategy than I did.
Nope, he can’t be going off to college. Because it was only a few months back that I drove he and a friend to a dance, filled with anticipation and anxiety about actual dancing, or perchance a kiss. Giddy expectation, largely unspoken, filled the car.
Men – though deemed to have the emotional capacity of cauliflower – can sense these things. We just don’t talk it to death.
Surely, we’re not selecting colleges for my boy. Not the one for whom I was just shopping for the used truck that’s been in our driveway now for 2 years.
Fathers know, but find it hard to swallow. Those who work at working, selected to slay the dragon of financial stability and craft creation know: the time comes too quickly. We were even repeatedly warned, “the time will come too quickly.”
But as with our universal inability to ask directions when clearly lost, we admit and accept not. Our inner pioneer is either comparatively blind or comparatively naïve, “It’ll be different; We’ll figure it out. I’ve got time.” It kind of was; we sort of did; time is up.
Now, with swelled pride I watch this accomplished high school senior weave through the college maze. Yet I also hear faint strains of Cats in the Cradle in the background. A man knows.
Here’s hoping he becomes famously wealthy in record time so he can support me and my eternally-patient wife in a lifestyle to which he’s become accustomed.
Click for: 3 Lessons My Children Taught Me, 2 Lessons I hope I taught them, and 1 We All Keep Re-Learning
3 Lessons My Children Taught Me
1. “This isn’t your childhood; you already had yours.” We have all seen other parents “living vicariously” through their kids, which – to me – is a nice way of saying, “Hey, I was a loser, so I’m going to FORCE you to correct my mistakes!” This of course, renders them a bigger loser. Will they ever learn? I once found myself attempting to create a museum-quality display “with” my son for a 5th grade project. I reeled back, seeing my own horrifically ill-designed volcanoes, and decided: it’s his grade, not mine. Thankfully, this extracted me from all future projects, except for the semi-regular mad dash to Hobby Lobby 7 seconds before they closed because the project was “just remembered”.
2. “The degree to which you object now is likely the identical degree to which your parents objected then. So how’d that work out?” Oh shut up. Next question please.
3. It is possible to learn new levels of love, understanding, and patience. Gandhi would be proud. When you’re young, you love your mother, and probably your dog. Then you love your spouse. And you think that’s it. Then your children come along, and a whole new wave of capacity appears. If you’re really fortunate, you recognize that God loved you enough for any of this to happen in the first place.
2 Lessons I Hope I Taught Them
1. It’s good to experiment. No, not with drugs or seeing if pregnancy will REALLY happen, but combine things that are not often combined. The “norm” really isn’t. Poke at an old problem with a new solution; who says you “shouldn’t” wear a t-shirt under a short-sleeved shirt? Try the oysters for crying out loud (my son once tasted dog food, of his own volition, when we were actually cooking steak that same night). Kids are going to experiment. I say let ‘em. Better with clothes and hairstyles than with car keys and alcohol.
2. Persuasion, Influence, and Decisions form your life. Maybe you should learn how to direct them, instead of being directed by them. This is a gray matter subject at best. I hope my children know what is trying to get “sold” to them and more importantly, how. Further, strong stands are often for movie heroes only, so I hope they understand that deftly-guided influence works as well, at a lower blood pressure.
1 Lesson We All Keep Relearning
1. Other people are really strange. Good thing we’re perfectly normal.
Yes, my son really is going to college. He’s naturally smart, handsome, comes from unflawed genetics, all that. So if you head the endowment at a high-caliber college where scholarship money flows onto the manicured grounds, send a link to your application. I’ll get back with you, soon as I face the fact that this is really happening.
Your Turn:
What Lessons Did Your Children Teach You?
Do any of your children work with you? What lessons are YOU learning from that?
Nope, he can’t be going off to college. Because it was only a few months back that I drove he and a friend to a dance, filled with anticipation and anxiety about actual dancing, or perchance a kiss. Giddy expectation, largely unspoken, filled the car.
Men – though deemed to have the emotional capacity of cauliflower – can sense these things. We just don’t talk it to death.
Surely, we’re not selecting colleges for my boy. Not the one for whom I was just shopping for the used truck that’s been in our driveway now for 2 years.
Fathers know, but find it hard to swallow. Those who work at working, selected to slay the dragon of financial stability and craft creation know: the time comes too quickly. We were even repeatedly warned, “the time will come too quickly.”
But as with our universal inability to ask directions when clearly lost, we admit and accept not. Our inner pioneer is either comparatively blind or comparatively naïve, “It’ll be different; We’ll figure it out. I’ve got time.” It kind of was; we sort of did; time is up.
Now, with swelled pride I watch this accomplished high school senior weave through the college maze. Yet I also hear faint strains of Cats in the Cradle in the background. A man knows.
Here’s hoping he becomes famously wealthy in record time so he can support me and my eternally-patient wife in a lifestyle to which he’s become accustomed.
Click for: 3 Lessons My Children Taught Me, 2 Lessons I hope I taught them, and 1 We All Keep Re-Learning
3 Lessons My Children Taught Me
1. “This isn’t your childhood; you already had yours.” We have all seen other parents “living vicariously” through their kids, which – to me – is a nice way of saying, “Hey, I was a loser, so I’m going to FORCE you to correct my mistakes!” This of course, renders them a bigger loser. Will they ever learn? I once found myself attempting to create a museum-quality display “with” my son for a 5th grade project. I reeled back, seeing my own horrifically ill-designed volcanoes, and decided: it’s his grade, not mine. Thankfully, this extracted me from all future projects, except for the semi-regular mad dash to Hobby Lobby 7 seconds before they closed because the project was “just remembered”.
2. “The degree to which you object now is likely the identical degree to which your parents objected then. So how’d that work out?” Oh shut up. Next question please.
3. It is possible to learn new levels of love, understanding, and patience. Gandhi would be proud. When you’re young, you love your mother, and probably your dog. Then you love your spouse. And you think that’s it. Then your children come along, and a whole new wave of capacity appears. If you’re really fortunate, you recognize that God loved you enough for any of this to happen in the first place.
2 Lessons I Hope I Taught Them
1. It’s good to experiment. No, not with drugs or seeing if pregnancy will REALLY happen, but combine things that are not often combined. The “norm” really isn’t. Poke at an old problem with a new solution; who says you “shouldn’t” wear a t-shirt under a short-sleeved shirt? Try the oysters for crying out loud (my son once tasted dog food, of his own volition, when we were actually cooking steak that same night). Kids are going to experiment. I say let ‘em. Better with clothes and hairstyles than with car keys and alcohol.
2. Persuasion, Influence, and Decisions form your life. Maybe you should learn how to direct them, instead of being directed by them. This is a gray matter subject at best. I hope my children know what is trying to get “sold” to them and more importantly, how. Further, strong stands are often for movie heroes only, so I hope they understand that deftly-guided influence works as well, at a lower blood pressure.
1 Lesson We All Keep Relearning
1. Other people are really strange. Good thing we’re perfectly normal.
Yes, my son really is going to college. He’s naturally smart, handsome, comes from unflawed genetics, all that. So if you head the endowment at a high-caliber college where scholarship money flows onto the manicured grounds, send a link to your application. I’ll get back with you, soon as I face the fact that this is really happening.
Your Turn:
What Lessons Did Your Children Teach You?
Do any of your children work with you? What lessons are YOU learning from that?
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Social Networking: Business Builder or Time Waster?
Last time, I mentioned the frightening reality of seeing 191 Facebook invitations. Even scarier than that many people pretending to be my friend is that many were people I’d not heard from since we “accidentally” swirled their head in the toilet in 7th grade.
I’d suggested ‘splitting’ the Social presence to a) Friends, family and b) Business. Then, my marketing mind and all 3 of its neurons went a step farther:
Seemed wise to take a poll on the contractor business case for Social Networking. And we got the responses. Oh man, we got responses. Some were a little ‘heated’. At least one was likely from toilet-swirl head himself.
Controversy forces truth and helps affirm belief. So, among the contractor readers out there, one thing came through loud and clear.
And that was a general belief that Social Media is a big ol’...well, you can insert your own word there.
Not so fast. There are a couple warnings - -
Do not defend the personal case for Social Media after reading this. I get it. Totally valuable within limits, each can define their own.
If connecting with family, linking with old friends, or a video of you going into a spasmodic fit after shooting Dream Whip up your nose “works” for you, go for it.
Yet if you disagree with the assessment or have an angle to share, we’d love to hear it. Link below.
The Results Are In. And they aren’t that pretty…
Here are the questions and the answers.
1. I think Social Networking is a great way to stay connected and I do not distinguish between business and personal. We’re all one big happy wedgie.
Agree: 11%
Disagree: 82%
Other: 7%
2. I think Social Networking is a great way to stay connected and I DO try to maintain distinctions between business and personal.
Agree: 73%
Disagree: 21%
Other: 6%
Conclusion Questions 1 and 2: Clearly, a separation of personal and commerce exists, should exist. Recommended: Create user groups for your business.
3. I believe Social Networking has brought us/the company more business.
Agree: 14%
Disagree: 46%
Other: 40%
Conclusion Question 3: A full 85.5% said they either ‘did not’ get sales or what they got was a waste of time.
Worthy pursuit from this conclusion: Find those who get sales without spending disproportionate time.
4. I believe Social Networking is mostly a colossal waste of time, brain cells, a contributor to A.D.D., and possibly a drop in GNP.
Agree: 34%
Disagree: 51%
Other: 15%
Conclusion Question 4: Between 50% and 100% more respondents felt Social Networking was either a waste of time or virtually impossible to determine.
5. I’d like to see how to engage Social Media for my business with a good ROI relative to money AND time spent.
Agree: 88%
Disagree: 6%
Other: 6%
Conclusion Question 5: 8 times more want this ‘ideal’ but are unclear how to get it. We’ve already got the solution framework laid out. “Automation” without mind-numbing input and resource waste is critical. We’ve hired a couple experts and vendors to complete. Contact us if you have input for this.
What is most obvious: Contractors ‘want’ to engage, ‘see’ the need to engage. Yet sort of like going door-to-door and ‘effectively engaging’ with the entire city, the time investment is currently unvalidated.
Therefore: have a presence, link between Facebook and Twitter accounts, change your pages daily, spend less than 20 minutes per day on this.
I’d suggested ‘splitting’ the Social presence to a) Friends, family and b) Business. Then, my marketing mind and all 3 of its neurons went a step farther:
Seemed wise to take a poll on the contractor business case for Social Networking. And we got the responses. Oh man, we got responses. Some were a little ‘heated’. At least one was likely from toilet-swirl head himself.
Controversy forces truth and helps affirm belief. So, among the contractor readers out there, one thing came through loud and clear.
And that was a general belief that Social Media is a big ol’...well, you can insert your own word there.
Not so fast. There are a couple warnings - -
Do not defend the personal case for Social Media after reading this. I get it. Totally valuable within limits, each can define their own.
If connecting with family, linking with old friends, or a video of you going into a spasmodic fit after shooting Dream Whip up your nose “works” for you, go for it.
Yet if you disagree with the assessment or have an angle to share, we’d love to hear it. Link below.
The Results Are In. And they aren’t that pretty…
Here are the questions and the answers.
1. I think Social Networking is a great way to stay connected and I do not distinguish between business and personal. We’re all one big happy wedgie.
Agree: 11%
Disagree: 82%
Other: 7%
2. I think Social Networking is a great way to stay connected and I DO try to maintain distinctions between business and personal.
Agree: 73%
Disagree: 21%
Other: 6%
Conclusion Questions 1 and 2: Clearly, a separation of personal and commerce exists, should exist. Recommended: Create user groups for your business.
3. I believe Social Networking has brought us/the company more business.
Agree: 14%
Disagree: 46%
Other: 40%
Conclusion Question 3: A full 85.5% said they either ‘did not’ get sales or what they got was a waste of time.
Worthy pursuit from this conclusion: Find those who get sales without spending disproportionate time.
4. I believe Social Networking is mostly a colossal waste of time, brain cells, a contributor to A.D.D., and possibly a drop in GNP.
Agree: 34%
Disagree: 51%
Other: 15%
Conclusion Question 4: Between 50% and 100% more respondents felt Social Networking was either a waste of time or virtually impossible to determine.
5. I’d like to see how to engage Social Media for my business with a good ROI relative to money AND time spent.
Agree: 88%
Disagree: 6%
Other: 6%
Conclusion Question 5: 8 times more want this ‘ideal’ but are unclear how to get it. We’ve already got the solution framework laid out. “Automation” without mind-numbing input and resource waste is critical. We’ve hired a couple experts and vendors to complete. Contact us if you have input for this.
What is most obvious: Contractors ‘want’ to engage, ‘see’ the need to engage. Yet sort of like going door-to-door and ‘effectively engaging’ with the entire city, the time investment is currently unvalidated.
Therefore: have a presence, link between Facebook and Twitter accounts, change your pages daily, spend less than 20 minutes per day on this.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The Anti-Social Network
Just in time for Halloween, I re-activated my Facebook account. Talk about scary. Since I’d “forgotten” to post anything for the last 8 months, somehow 191 invitations piled up. And we’re not even to the scary part.
While wading through invitations, I attempted efficiency. And in my first ‘re-post’ announcing my new-found efficiency method, I ticked off the Facebook community.
What I meant to do was separate my business life and personal life.
I just felt that the business community didn’t really care about seeing a photo of me wearing a cute but overly large cowboy hat while in my underpants. Especially since I was 32 at the time.
Let this be a lesson to all those who “thought” the job interview went great, but the call-backs went strangely silent. That video of you on stage at the Marilyn Manson concert holds a clue to your spate of unfruitful interviews.
Anyway, when I posted about separating the two worlds, and my ‘limited’ acceptance of friends, some were annoyed. Yet I believe there are…
4 Facebook ‘Friend’ Segments:
1. People who you’ve lost contact with, and are sincerely happy to have them ‘linked’ into your life.
2. People you’ve lost contact with, that you frankly don’t miss.
3. People you sort of knew, but considered anti-social, weird, a little too into Star-Wars, and most likely to be wearing footed pajamas well into their 30’s.
4. The Unabomber
I really only want to stay in touch with Group 1, and might stretch to Group 2 for entertainment only. Yet some users “collect” friends, like baseball cards or matchbooks (with similar emotional investment) so they can proclaim, “I have 7,812 friends on Facebook!”
This elicits jealously among those in footed pajamas, causing them to rewatch the entire Star Wars trilogy – or my preference, its eulogy – during which they begin “friending” people they haven’t seen since the entire 5th grade gave them a wedgie of galactic proportions.
Thus the reason I got so many invitations.
I half considered starting an Anti-Social Network where those with fewer followers are revered.
Now to the business sector. Mixing B2B and Social Media (aside from LinkedIn) is often viewed as handing out business cards at a funeral: you just don’t do it.
Yet there are clever ways to achieve social networking goals and business goals simultaneously without revealing too much “Personal” and without being an overly promotional buffoon.
Next time I’ll share the Business Side of Social Networking.
While wading through invitations, I attempted efficiency. And in my first ‘re-post’ announcing my new-found efficiency method, I ticked off the Facebook community.
What I meant to do was separate my business life and personal life.
I just felt that the business community didn’t really care about seeing a photo of me wearing a cute but overly large cowboy hat while in my underpants. Especially since I was 32 at the time.
Let this be a lesson to all those who “thought” the job interview went great, but the call-backs went strangely silent. That video of you on stage at the Marilyn Manson concert holds a clue to your spate of unfruitful interviews.
Anyway, when I posted about separating the two worlds, and my ‘limited’ acceptance of friends, some were annoyed. Yet I believe there are…
4 Facebook ‘Friend’ Segments:
1. People who you’ve lost contact with, and are sincerely happy to have them ‘linked’ into your life.
2. People you’ve lost contact with, that you frankly don’t miss.
3. People you sort of knew, but considered anti-social, weird, a little too into Star-Wars, and most likely to be wearing footed pajamas well into their 30’s.
4. The Unabomber
I really only want to stay in touch with Group 1, and might stretch to Group 2 for entertainment only. Yet some users “collect” friends, like baseball cards or matchbooks (with similar emotional investment) so they can proclaim, “I have 7,812 friends on Facebook!”
This elicits jealously among those in footed pajamas, causing them to rewatch the entire Star Wars trilogy – or my preference, its eulogy – during which they begin “friending” people they haven’t seen since the entire 5th grade gave them a wedgie of galactic proportions.
Thus the reason I got so many invitations.
I half considered starting an Anti-Social Network where those with fewer followers are revered.
Now to the business sector. Mixing B2B and Social Media (aside from LinkedIn) is often viewed as handing out business cards at a funeral: you just don’t do it.
Yet there are clever ways to achieve social networking goals and business goals simultaneously without revealing too much “Personal” and without being an overly promotional buffoon.
Next time I’ll share the Business Side of Social Networking.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Midterm Mindlessness
With midterm elections just around the corner, the political rhetoric has been ratcheted up a few billion notches. And in case you missed it, the focus seems to be on our still-lagging economy. If I hear one more political ad promising the complete and total turnaround of the U.S. economy within 24 hours of electing Joe Schmoe, I may just have to start a campaign of my own. Why?
I’m as sick of the economic non-news as you are. (Part of the reason its called “NEWS” is something in it should “NEW”.) I’ll go so far as to say the following, which could cause a flurry of hate-mail being sent my way.
There’s no point in crying about the newest Economic non-news, especially if…
1. We start looking at what’s more important in life than money. How can it be bad to return focus on family, simplicity, and doing without meaningless clutter? Gosh, we might read a book instead of forking over $50 to go to the movies. Which one could “enrich” you in two ways?
2. We remember that if we weren’t selling our stocks or homes when they were “up”, why in the world would we become anxious in contemplation of doing so when they’re down?
3. We recognize that the “value” of our gains was merely “potential” value, only becoming realistic if sold. Big difference between “potentially” and “realistically”. Potentially your service van can compete in the Indy 500. Realistically, you’d be better off on foot.
4. Embrace the “C” word. I’ve yet to see homeowners go without heat, or plumbing, or electricity. Be very thankful you’re in your field of work, and that commodity is not a four-letter word. And more importantly…
5. Just be thankful, period. You’ve got health, or the hope of improvement, plus family, friends, and faith in better days ahead. Even what Americans call “poverty” materially dwarfs 70% of the rest of the world. We need to show less attitude, more gratitude.
6. All this stuff is God’s anyway. We’re just renting it. (Some of us a little behind on the payments perhaps.) Regardless of your faith or belief, there’s a pretty decent chance you believe someone other than man made the earth, its resources, its glory. Further, I’ll imagine you’ve yet to figure out a way to take it with you when you’re gone. Want what you have.
If THIS is what the economic turmoil brings us, bring it on. It’s here anyway; neither you nor I caused it; we can only control how we respond.
A choice, as I see it. Now go share some good news. There’s plenty enough to go around.
Thoughts and considerations –
1. Do you have ONE PERSON you’d like to thank? I bet more than one. Why not ‘pay out’ with some thanks to somebody who could use it? Pretty darn easy to. Click here to get started.
2. Do you have a whole BUNCH of people you’d like to thank at one time? Like, um, maybe YOUR CUSTOMERS? We have contractor Holiday Cards available again this year.
3. Would you like to triple your market penetration for pennies? Check out the radius marketing program through Express Copy.
I’m as sick of the economic non-news as you are. (Part of the reason its called “NEWS” is something in it should “NEW”.) I’ll go so far as to say the following, which could cause a flurry of hate-mail being sent my way.
There’s no point in crying about the newest Economic non-news, especially if…
1. We start looking at what’s more important in life than money. How can it be bad to return focus on family, simplicity, and doing without meaningless clutter? Gosh, we might read a book instead of forking over $50 to go to the movies. Which one could “enrich” you in two ways?
2. We remember that if we weren’t selling our stocks or homes when they were “up”, why in the world would we become anxious in contemplation of doing so when they’re down?
3. We recognize that the “value” of our gains was merely “potential” value, only becoming realistic if sold. Big difference between “potentially” and “realistically”. Potentially your service van can compete in the Indy 500. Realistically, you’d be better off on foot.
4. Embrace the “C” word. I’ve yet to see homeowners go without heat, or plumbing, or electricity. Be very thankful you’re in your field of work, and that commodity is not a four-letter word. And more importantly…
5. Just be thankful, period. You’ve got health, or the hope of improvement, plus family, friends, and faith in better days ahead. Even what Americans call “poverty” materially dwarfs 70% of the rest of the world. We need to show less attitude, more gratitude.
6. All this stuff is God’s anyway. We’re just renting it. (Some of us a little behind on the payments perhaps.) Regardless of your faith or belief, there’s a pretty decent chance you believe someone other than man made the earth, its resources, its glory. Further, I’ll imagine you’ve yet to figure out a way to take it with you when you’re gone. Want what you have.
If THIS is what the economic turmoil brings us, bring it on. It’s here anyway; neither you nor I caused it; we can only control how we respond.
A choice, as I see it. Now go share some good news. There’s plenty enough to go around.
Thoughts and considerations –
1. Do you have ONE PERSON you’d like to thank? I bet more than one. Why not ‘pay out’ with some thanks to somebody who could use it? Pretty darn easy to. Click here to get started.
2. Do you have a whole BUNCH of people you’d like to thank at one time? Like, um, maybe YOUR CUSTOMERS? We have contractor Holiday Cards available again this year.
3. Would you like to triple your market penetration for pennies? Check out the radius marketing program through Express Copy.
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