12 Minutes

Oct 10 2011

How Not to Build a Team

I received an email from a well-known figure – or, more accurately from the headquarters of a well-known figure – and it got me thinking about the RIGHT way to build a team.

The email started off on the right foot, sortof, with a subject line that said “Unacceptable Affiliate Advertising Methods.” We won’t tell you who it was from…so we’ll use the name “Joe Shlabotnik.”

It has been brought to my attention that some affiliates are using unacceptable advertising methods to promote my products.

The incident I’m referring to was when an Affiliate used a picture of a well known author along with a picture of his book in a PPC ad driving people to a training webinar with Mr. Shlabotnik.

Interestingly enough, I knew the exact thing to which Joe Shlabotnik was referring: an ad on Facebook from a week earlier. It looked a lot like this:

Did they ask him first?

It annoyed me at least a little – since I’m a big fan of Tim Ferriss, the author whose image was being used.

But what was even more interesting here was the chain of events leading to this email. In fact, it went something like this:

Dave sees PPC ad.
Dave signs up for webinar from advertiser.
Dave listens to first few minutes of webinar, throws up a little in his mouth when watching Joe Shlabotnik talk about his 14,000 square-foot house.
Dave exits the webinar, only to receive a few more emails from Shlabotnik Worldwide.
Dave opts out of future emails from Shlabotnik.

All this happened, mind you, before I got the scolding email from Joe Shlabotnik himself.

This, Gentle Readers, is no way to build a team.

What’s the takeaway here? A couple things:

1. Guard Your Brand Carefully

Joe Shlabotnik himself told us he created so many techniques that are being used by Internet Marketers that we’re probably using them right now and don’t even know it. So why does he need so many Affiliate Marketers to help make things happen for him?

In this case, he probably decided that he needed to “Funnel” us all through his marketing program, casting such a wide, uh, funnel that it was a pure numbers game. Get 1,000,000 eyeballs and even if you convert at a tiny tiny number (let’s say 0.1%) you still have 1000 paying customers.

But at what price? Did the guy or gal who was sending out the offensive emails really need them to draw eyeballs to a marketer so successful he practically invented Internet Marketing?

2. Choose Your Affiliates Carefully

We are in the middle of our Affiliate Recruitment campaign for 12 Minute Marketing right now, and I can tell you this: we are turning some people down. Once you get too big, you lose control of who is saying what about you – and that may have been the case with Mr. Shlabotnik.

Or, it may not matter to him – it may be more important to grow a big team and have no control over it. Don’t know, but that’s no the way we plan on doing it.

3. Have a Moral Compass

And use it. Whether or not this was authorized by Mr. Shlabotnik – and maybe it was – it’s definitely toeing the line.

In this case, using someone else’s image to sell your own product? Not cool.

What’s most interesting here?

Shlabotnik doesn’t need to use another author’s image to get ahead.

Learn from this, fellow marketers. Guard your brand carefully, Choose your affiliates carefully, and have a moral compass. Please.

Sep 30 2011

Good Food

Rick Strater takes his turn at the Area 224 microphone today. Met Rick yet? He’s the other co-founder of 12 Minute Marketing. And he’s hungry…for the right messaging.

How many times have you seen that sign? It makes me crazy! What kind of messaging is that?

“Wow! That sign says that restaurant has good food. Pull over! I really want to go there than to any of those other restaurants that clearly serve bad food since they aren’t telling me they have ‘good food.'”

Another of my pet peeves is “Low Prices.”

Same reaction – “Let’s go there…now! I need some of those low prices.”

And when you combine them – Good Food/Low Prices — you have a real winner. Who wouldn’t want to go there instead of a restaurant that serves lousy food at really high prices?

Seriously, these signs are often four or five feet tall, so they’re not trying to send subliminal messages. These restaurants and retailers are trying to differentiate themselves and send important messages to their customers and prospects.

Frankly, these have just the opposite effect on me. If you’re blatantly shouting to me that you have good food and low prices, I’m immediately skeptical.

Now in fairness, I’m biased. I remember reading a review by a food critic that described the food at a local restaurant as being “like gold on the palate.” I think he made a typo. It was “like gold on the plate” because he was clearly getting a kick back for recommending such awful food. The fact that the atmosphere was worse than the food just added to my delight…

What’s the point of my grumbling? When you think about how to position your brand, you need to put a little more effort into the process. This messaging is really an important part of your marketing mix. Don’t take it for granted. What makes you different? What value are you bringing to your customers? Your business is worth the time and effort it takes to get your messaging right!

Hear more from Rick as part of the 12 Minute Marketing program. You can check out the Sample Lessons through this link.

Sep 26 2011

The Lively Art of Twitter Language

Too Much Facebook Lately? Let’s Talk About Twitter!

Three trends on Twitter, discourse, language and engagement that are worth taking a look at. Here goes:

Trend 1: Brand Hijacking of Trending Topics

When a topic is talked about by lots of people on Twitter, it is called a “Trending Topic.” Sometimes, this trend can be one word and have a “Hashtag” or pound sign in front of it.

Oftentimes, these Trending Topics can be rather risque. Sometimes, they can be in poor taste.

TODAY: the number one “un-sponsored” Trending Topic is this phrase:

So, no matter where you stand on this particular topic – whether you think it’s promoting violence or you think it’s all in good fun – you can choose to ignore it if you would like.

You don’t have to be part of the conversation if you don’t want to. You can stay far, far away from it.

In fact, if you’re a brand marketer, we’re going to recommend that you stay away. You don’t want to be associated with the types of discussions that might be happening on Twitter right now around this topic.

Then there’s Radio Shack.

If you’re a brand with money to spend, you can pay to “promote” your tweet – so that anyone who clicks on the term and searches for the latest commentary on that topic can see your message.

Like this:

What’s the Takeaway? The brand is out of your hands. So think twice before “hijacking” a sponsored topic that could get you in trouble.

Trend 2: Blue Language and Twitter

I like to point fingers at glass houses, so why not use myself as an example here?

Fact: When checking keywords during a recent Twitter session – search.twitter.com is HIGHLY recommended – I decided to say that the assertion that a certain site (Klout) sending gifts to people was not, contrary to a tweeter’s belief, evidence that “Social Media Works.” I used the word “bull—-” which may or may not fit your definition of “Blue Language.” However, I was admonished:

Rather than this becoming Twitter War Three, I was able to have some polite off-line discussions with the person offended, and, yes, I apologized for using that term. Then I started following her on Twitter.

What’s the takeaway? You’re not going to make everyone happy anywhere you go on the web. What’s okay to you is over the line to others. You can’t win every time.

BUT: Should You Clean It Up?

Here’s where authenticity is key. I would only use that sort of language in a public forum in rare occasions – giving a speech, it depends on the audience, and it’s not “part of my act.” Some writers, bloggers, consultants and speakers CAN get away with this: Danny Brown, Erika Napoletano and Jason Falls all come to mind.

The question you need to ask yourself is this: if you’re the kind of person for whom Blue Language is part of the fabric, great. For me, upon further review, it’s not, and I’m much better sticking to my “nice guy, no potty mouth” persona.

Trend 3: Being Okay with Automation

If you want to have a lively discussion about the use of Twitter, talk about “Automation.” In some worlds, it’s completely bogus. In other worlds, it’s completely necessary.

In my world, it’s (to borrow from above) part of the fabric. And it’s also tough to tell where it’s actually happening these days:

Looking at the above snapshot of Shelly Kramer’s Twitter stream from over the weekend – you can’t totally tell. The “via”, the “twrt.me” links, any and all of it could be part of an automation program, or NONE of it could be part of an automation program.

These are four sample tweets – do these four mean she doesn’t engage with people? (NO, she DOES.) Is she always engaging with people? Does she have a team of interns? Is she up at all hours?

What’s the Takeaway? There are uber-tweeters with 100,000-plus followers and absolutely no automation. There are others who automate some, and still others who can’t be bothered with tweeting themselves but have a team doing it for them.

You need to make your own decision, and you don’t have to make an absolute decision. It might make total sense, or no sense at all.

As long as you’re actually having conversations with people, you’re on your way to real engagement.

Coming Full Circle: Can You Still Be “Lively” on Twitter?

I’ll admit to falling a little off the wagon of late when it comes to Twitter: I used to spend all hours on the site, then I was down to a few minutes a day “checking in.” I’m back a little more because it is in line with my business objectives – and I’m in a “Relationship Business,” so building relationships on Twitter is of strategic importance.

You need to make the decisions based on what’s right for your business – and choose the style and tone that makes the most sense.

Want to hear more “thinking” like this? Check out our Holistic Social Media Lesson – part of the 12 Minute Marketing series. It’s free to watch that, and four other sample lessons, using this link. And no “opt-in” necessary…ah, that’s a subject for another post.

Sep 20 2011

You Have Nothing To Lose and Numbers Don’t Lie

You DO Have Something To Lose

I’m getting them again. Emails that grab me with subject lines that are misleading as heck. As a marketer, you’re better than that.

Let’s dissect a couple of these.

“You Have Nothing To Lose.”

That was the subject line of a recent email that begged me to take advantage of a coaching program with a guru. It costs me absolutely nothing to do – it is, in the style of the Internet Marketer, “FR.EE.” The calculus behind this, and other emails like it, is that I’m going to take a flier on your event, course, value-added service – and that I won’t think of my time as something I have to spend.

This is a problem. This is not an Empathy Marketing tactic. This is just lame.

See, I don’t know about you, but I choose to invest my time wisely. The reason I have nothing to lose, in your opinion, is because you know what’s on the other side of this offer, and it’ll only take an hour for me to find out.

If I ever fail to take your time seriously as a marketer, you can ignore my message.

What’s sad about this particular message I received is that the guy behind the curtain is probably someone I could learn from. But, because I got flummoxed by the email arrogantly telling me I had nothing to lose, I put the message into the mental circular file.

Let’s take a look at another one:

“Numbers Don’t Lie.”

Oh, don’t they? Peeling back the onion in this particular email and it’s even scarier. “9000 people visit this site every month!” “50 people have qualified for the bonus already!” I’ll agree: Numbers Don’t Lie.

The 9000 people who visited your site every month: are they bots from another country?

The 50 people who qualified for the bonus: what did they do to qualify?

Let’s amend the statement: Numbers Don’t Lie, but you can sure as heck use whatever numbers you want.

How About This? Let’s Take Each Other Seriously

My time is something I take seriously. 3 minutes reading your email from top to bottom are three minutes I’m not there for my wife and my kids.

Truth is something I take seriously, too. Mislead me with numbers that I can EASILY CHECK on the Internet and I’m going to lose respect for you.

We’re all trying to make a living. We’ve all got lives to lead. Take me seriously and I’ll do the same to you.

Sep 16 2011

The Holistic Approach to Social Media

(This originally ran as a guest post on the SocialMouths blog. We’re re-running it here in case you missed it over there.)

The Social Media Echo Chamber

If you get the feeling that the term “Social Media” is code for a whole bunch of bloggers talking to other bloggers about how great they are – well, it’s highly possible that you are jaded and haven’t watched a more holistic approach to social media in action.

This is understandable – and I’ll tell you why you’re seeing this: Shiny Object Syndrome leads to people who are “channel oriented” with their social media.

WHAT?

Let me explain.

Businesses that we have worked with at Area 224 will customarily start with a channel that they have fallen in love with. Let’s say it’s a computer hardware company who heard about Dell and its use of Twitter to drive millions in sales. Computer hardware company then says to us “We need a Twitter.” And they get on Twitter – sometimes with us, sometimes without us.

Then they start asking themselves why the sales aren’t rolling in.

The reason is they’ve gone channel first – and they aren’t Holistic with their Social Media.

So now what?

Return to the Four Ps of Marketing

Remember those?

Actually, we’re going to guess that a lot of the Social Media Echo Chamber people haven’t touched the Four Ps of Marketing in a long time. If ever.

Product. Price. Place. Promotion.

(See the chart. Download the chart. Be the chart.)

We’re not going to go into a big diatribe on the power of the Four Ps – in fact, in our 12 Minute Marketing course, we devote an entire week (one hour; 5 times 12 and we give subscribers the weekend off) to the Four Ps and the Marketing Mix.

But part of the fact that the Four Ps don’t get too much attention has something to do with bias – you are biased toward those things you do most, or best, as a business person.

So if you’re a PR Guy, you might tilt toward Promotion. If you’re a computer programmer writing software, you are probably zeroed in on Product. And so on…but, because of your bias, and that of your boss or your client or the woman who owns your company, you get a very “siloed” and not-very-holistic approach to whatever it is you’re working on.

Where Social Fits in the Mix

Take that bias above and apply it to the Social Media Mix, and you’re going to get…well, you’re going to get a recipe for something that’s not very focused.

(Another chart for ya.)

You’re a PR person and a people person, so you aim toward Social Networks and work on getting to 5000 friends on Facebook. You’re a computer programmer and you love Twitter’s API and the fact that Twitter can be gamed, sortof, so you head down the Micro-Sharing path. And so on, and so forth – and so not very holistic.

Ah, but where is the Target Customer in all this?

Good question – and that’s how you can take this thing to, as they say, “The Next Level.”

We have said time and time again that, if you’re manufacturing aircraft engines, you may not need 10,000 fans on Facebook. BUT, Social Media may very well make sense for your business – and for connecting with your target customer. Right? Assuming that you know who your target customer is.

Holistic Social Media – It’s Not About Numbers

“Skate to where the puck is going to be.” – Wayne Gretzky.

Back when we wrote a book on Social Media Marketing for Real Estate, we were amazed at how many real estate professionals didn’t get it. It’s not that they weren’t good at the craft of real estate – maybe they were, maybe they weren’t – but it’s the fact that they had no earthly idea where the puck was going.

Had one chat with a real estate professional in some warm climate, and she said “I’m tweeting with other real estate professionals, why isn’t that bringing in business?” See above about Echo Chamber. Then see the part about the Four Ps. Then see the Holistic Social Media chart.

Arrrgh!

Let’s bring this all together with one more, final, elegant (if I do say so myself) Holistic Social Media Marketing Mix chart.

If we use the real estate professional we just talked about – is she asking who her target customer is? And, once she asks who the target customer is, does she have the Four Ps down pat for her business? (Hint: SHE’S the Product!) Price is static for her services, Place is where she lives and works and sells real estate. Promotion – well…a little more complex, right?

But, if She’s The Product, and she knows who her Target Customer is, she’s going to have a better feel for which Social Media Channels she should be using, and what she should be saying.

The categories matter to some extent – but they vary depending on who your Target is and what they do online. Geo-Sharing? For the real estate person, checking in on Foursquare at the office makes very little sense. Blogging might be important – as long as you’re blogging about what is interesting to – AGAIN – your Target Customer.

Wrapping It All Together

Simple, right? Make it all work in lockstep with each other and you’re done.

Not so fast…What Holistic Social Media allows you to do is to ask serious questions about the “Why” behind every little tactic you can be yanked into. Boss wants you on Facebook to get him new business? Great. Who is the Target Customer?

Got 50,000 followers on Twitter and want to leverage them all for new business? Great. Who is the Target Customer? What are your Four Ps?

We could go on, but filling in the blanks is up to you. Just make sure that you’re thinking strategically – and Holistically – with your Social Media.

Go get em!