Falling off the wagon

Back in the wild west days, people used to transport wine and liqueur in barrels by horses. One guy would be handling the horses who is now known as the driver, and another guy would be sitting next to him with a shot-gun protecting the goods, (hence, the expression “shotgun”) when somebody sits in the front passenger seat. However, due to the long roads the protector ends up drinking the whole time to make time go by faster. Subsequently, the guy who’s been drinking for the last 1700 miles or so gets drunk and fall off the wagon. Hence, the expression:”Falling off the wagon.” (Read more:http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_did_the_term_’falling_off_the_wagon’_come_from#ixzz1lRdXBUH9)

Now a days, the phrase is widely used to describe something that you used to do and don’t anymore.  I found myself saying it a couple of weeks ago at the gym when I was asked, “where you have been” to which I responded, “I fell off the wagon during the Holidays.”  It has been my experience that we fall off the wagon when there is a major distraction.  In my case, the holidays.  But the whole thing got me thinking.  What happens when an organization falls off the wagon?  When your processes change without you knowing?  When there is a redirection that really doesn’t make sense but no one challenges it?

You see for me is easy to drag myself back into the gym after not going for a while.  I miss it and enjoy the physical exercise.  But for a company to fall off the wagon could be detrimental to its future growth.  Can you think the last time your business fell off the wagon? I hope not.  That is why a constant check and balance and clear open communication is crucial. Don’t forget to ask your team every once in a while, “Where have you been?”

Vertical diversification

Vertical diversification is not just a financial investment term.  It’s a complicated growth strategy that done well can bring significant business growth.  Let’s say you have a product that can cross over to different industries.  The benefits are the same for all your potential customers.  Vertical diversification allows you to enter new markets with the core capabilities and products that you already deliver to your current customers.

The key to a vertical market diversification is … you got it…the marketing.  It all start with an in-depth industry reasearch of the market that you plan to attack. Is there a real need?  Can you quantify that need/opportunity? Do you have to develop new products to complete your offer?  You need to consider and analyse that market before wasting resources and time into an industry that might not bring you the growth that you seek.

Vertical market diversification will help you grow but only if you take the proper steps to learn the market, put the resources in place to support it and make sure that you have the right products.

However, be aware that vertical market diversification takes time.  Your brand might be unknown in the markets that you are trying to penetrate.  You will have to build your credibility and build your brand.  It is better to start small.  Target few potential accounts and clients that will help you build your business resume. Back up your story with real industry examples to gain other clients.  And soon enough, you will experience exponential growth.

To read more about it, click here.

7 steps to a successful marketing campaign

Often, companies approach marketing campaigns as a way to get their word out or their brand noticed.  With the pressures of the day to day work, some campaigns go out with not a lot of thought put into them.  At times, they are done under pressure and deployed quickly.  The kicker is that management will always want to see that ROI.

My approach to a successful marketing campaign is much like the new product development process. Without oversimplifying things, there are 7 key steps that will guarantee your campaign to be successful:

Goal- Determine what you want to accomplish with the campaign from the start.  You need to determine what type of campaign this is going to be.  Are you attracting new prospects? Are you converting sales or cross selling new products?  Are you trying to retain your captive audience?  Are you trying to grow your relationship with your customers?  Each of these questions represent a different message and even a different creative.

Audience- Understand your audience.  Is it small in size?  Can you target each individual personally? Or, is it a large group? Do you know their “pains”? How do they rather be communicated?  What will grab their attention?  These key questions start the composition of your message and the purpose of your campaign in relation to your goal.  Don’t you rather do a campaign that is relevant to your audience than “spraying and praying” that they will answer your call?

Message- What are you going to say?  What do you want your audience to do?  You got it!  What is the call to action. I have seem very creative and innovative campaign that miss the most important things on a campaign a call to action.  No phone number, web site, email, link to social media and such… Put yourself in your audience’s shoes.  Does what you’re saying making sense?  Will it grab their attention?  Will they even care?

Touchpoints-  Evey marketer knows that touchpoints are important to a successful campaign.  Just sending one letter, one postcard, a single email, a tweet or facebook message is not going to grab your audience’s attention.  The key is consistency and frequency.

Integration- With smart phones, mobile devices, email, social media…the next step is to integrate.  Your message and creative is already done.  You just need to use the various communication channels available to you to reach your audience.  How do you like to be communicated with?  I personally like SMS but email is good too. It goes right to my phone where I can respond in seconds.  But, I’m a junk mail junkie.  I like to go through my mail and look at offers.

Sales-  Often  marketers are blamed for the failure of a marketing campaign.  That is because there is no sales support behind the campaign.  Back to approaching a marketing campaign like a new product… without sales support a new product doesn’t get properly introduced to the market.  The same goes for a campaign.  Sales need to follow up with leads and requests.  Where do you think your ROI comes from? How can you justify another campaign?

 Analysis and reporting- It is so important to go back and see what was done right and what needs to improve. Reporting is critical for the campaign justification.  Most of the communication channels have instant reporting and you can follow the success of your campaign in real time.  Analysis of your campaign creative, time of the deployment, audience targeted, messaging, media integration, sales interaction is also critical.  It is your lessons learned so that your next campaign is more successful than the last.

It is hard to keep up with all these steps when you are running several campaigns at the same time.  But belive me, it gets easier and becomes a habit that will only make you better.

Global warming?

I have seen some crazy weather living in Upstate NY.  But these past few years, I have seen some drastic changes in our weather patterns.  However, this winter season has top them all.  We have had some really cold days and some really unseasonable warm days.

But today was an eye opener.  My morning went from a cold wet and dreary 40 degrees to a drop of 10 degrees in 15 min and snow shooting sideways. Call it a cold front or winter storm… I call it global schizophrenia.

All funny stuff aside, these weather changes are really affecting all of us.  We really need to start thinking of solutions to the “what ifs”? Consider your carbon foot print or start stocking cans in your basement… you never know what will happen.

Do you know what drives your team?

Ok… you are managing your department… evaluating resources… formulating complex solutions to new problems daily… you reach out to your team to get the work done but notice that some jump on it right away and others procrastinate.  I think that is just human nature.  Your goal is to get the job done the right way and on time.  But how can you deal with the different dispositions of your team?  It is easy, they all have different drives.

It is hard to evaluate what drives your team.  Is it money, family, friends, repetitive tasks, recognition… the list can go on for ever.

Recently I read Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink.  His proposed concept is simple.  Are you a Type I or a Type II?

We all have something that drives us.  Some of the drivers drive us short term and others long term.  If you think like me, I want something that drives me for a long time.  Why?  A long term drive represents to me a constant challenge and satisfaction of accomplishing what I set myself to do.  Now… if you apply that to your team, wouldn’t you want them to have the same drive.

Read the book and see what drives people.  Determine if you are a Type I or a Type II.  You will be surprised of what you find out.  The solution is so simple and makes perfect common sense.

Click here for a short video about the book.