You’re in the Marketing/Technology/Data Business Now
Grab a couple of aspirin and a glass of water (or a stiff drink), and take 10 minutes to read this Ad Age article: Tech Consulting Giants Slide Closer to Creative Shop Turf by Kunur Patel, published Jan. 16, 2012. Go ahead. I’ll wait. The message is: CMOs everywhere are scrambling to find the sweet spot between tech, creative and data. Their goal: To find the “big idea” that will not only “win the day” (think Old Spice Man) but also can be replicated and scaled to attract new consumers and drive sales. Previously, marketing executives engaged different vendor types to solve what...
Read MoreThree Words for 2012
Since 2006, Chris Brogan has invited his community to come up with three words for the coming year that define what we are focusing on in the coming year. Here are mine for 2012. Present Recently, Jeff and I went to a restaurant in an unbelievably beautiful casino on the Mohegan Indian reservation in Connecticut. I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of the symbols, soaring ceilings, and the implied natural and the noise, smoke, and acres of flashing lights. The problem was that as I craned my neck to take in the sights, I was not in my body or present to what I was doing, which, according to...
Read More5 New Year’s Resolutions for Small Marketing Agencies
1. Make this the year you get over your fear of “selling.” Most professional service business owners (not just marketing) are so afraid of the concept that they can’t even say the word out loud. Instead they say “new business development.” The thing is, sales and marketing (including PR) are inextricably intertwined. My sales vet significant other describes it this way: Sales without marketing is like a motorboat with no one at the helm. Marketing without sales is like a boat with a captain but no motor. Now part of the motor might be automated (read: conversion focused...
Read MoreWinning the Content Creation Game in 20 Minutes a Day
About 10 years ago, I hired a professional book coach to get me through the first draft of my first novel. I wanted to write two or three hours a day, but he wouldn’t let me. Based on my schedule, he would only permit me to write for 30 minutes a day. And so write I did, most days (but not all), and at the end of about 14 months I had a completed book. 223 typed pages. Was it book award worthy? No. But the process taught me a lot about writing on demand. In this business, in our business, it can, and must be done. So as your writing coach, let me suggest that you block out just 20 minutes a...
Read MoreMake your web copy more relevant with personas
Every time I edit copy for a website, I run across pretty much the same issues. Too much focus on features and not enough on benefits. Copy that is more about you than what’s in it for those you’re trying to connect with. And, inevitably, there is no clear call to action. There is also industry jargon, overuse of adverbs, addiction to –ing, and my number one pet peeve: the dangling participle. But by far the most common (and biggest) problem I run into is –in fact, it’s almost universal – people are afraid to write anything that could alienate, well, anyone. Which makes for weak,...
Read MoreHow to Redefine Public Relations
The Public Relations Society of American (PRSA) recently launched a campaign to redefine public relations. You can weigh in via this form. I’m not sure, however, that crowdsourcing a definition is the right way to solve this problem. I think as community, we first need to understand and agree on our profession’s collective strategic story. (I’ve learned about strategic storytelling over the past year, from my client, Bill Baker, principal of BB&Co Strategic Storytelling.) We need to uncover what our function and relationship to business is, what we want it to be, and then...
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