Intrepid LLC

Be An Intrepid Marketer – Recommendation No. 5

OK – Super Bowl Sunday is an appropriate day to discuss my next recommendation – Dream Big!

I will be honest – I named my company Intrepid because I had bold long-term dreams to run commercials for my company during the Super Bowl – and I wanted a company name that would fit. I wanted to advertise on the wall advertisements in airport terminals - on large billboards in and around large city downtowns – and on scoreboards at major sports arenas.

Is this foolish? In some eyes? Many eyes? Perhaps.

But I say no. A big NO. You have to dream big. And commit those dreams to writing. Nothing wrong with grand dreams to strive for. Big dreams motivate – energize – mobilize! Destination CLEAR!

Without bold dreams – you will never be INTREPID!

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Be An Intrepid Marketer – Recommendation No. 4

I recently presented a client with their marketing plan. In it, I recommended donating time and resources to a local charity. We spent several minutes debating which charity to support. I was thrilled. And knew right then – this client is going to be successful. Because they understand that:

Giving back is good marketing. You will never convince me otherwise. It is good PR – feels good – helps people. And you will meet new people in the process that may ultimately become new customers.

Marketing is about getting and keeping customers. And people like to support organizations that help others. If you learn one thing from reading this blog:

Giving back is good marketing. Serving your fellow manking is good marketing. It helps you stand out.

Here is how I give back!

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Be An Intrepid Marketer – Recommendation No. 3

If you are reading this, you have some degree of faith in social media – or at least some curiosity about it. And understand the value of social networking.

Whether you believe in online networking, face-to-face networking, or both – you need to do it right. Because if you do – you should strive to be one of those people that are sought after! People seeking an audience with you is a good thing!

But it takes work to get there. You need to give referrals. Connect new friends. Participate. Provide value and distribute thought leadership. Practice and believe in giving more than receiving. And your effort must be sustained over time!

Do this – you will become known as someone of value. And prospects will start knocking on your door!

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Be An Intrepid Marketer – Recommendation No. 2

Marketing is only about one thing. Building relationships.

It wasn’t always this way. Marketing used to be more focused on advertising TO somebody (watch Mad Men to see how it use to work). But these days – marketing is a two-way conversation.

Social media does make this easier. And a smart marketer integrates social media into their overall marketing program. If you find success at face-to-face networking, then a social media strategy will have a profound impact on your business.

But never mind about the tools and tactics for a moment. Get it through your head that marketing is about making friends – giving value forward – being helpful – becoming known as someone who serves first.

If you do those things – consistently – the prospects will start knocking on your door.

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I just finished reading Seth Godin’s book  Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. What a great book! It’s a quick read – pick it up and you can finish in an afternoon. You’ll spend more time thinking about some of the profound things you will read.

 It makes you think, and inspires you by explaining that we have the power to make things happen. We just need to lead. But nothing I can say will sum up this book better than this section from page 122:

“Hope without a strategy doesn’t generate leadership. Leadership comes when your hope and your optimism are matched with a concrete vision of the future and a way to get there. People won’t follow you if they don’t believe you can get to where you say you’re going.”

Enjoy the book!

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Be An Intrepid Marketer – Recommendation No. 1

With your marketing – you must be, well, intrepid. Fearless. Bold. Resolutely courageous. In fact, that is the exact definition of intrepid from my dictionary. And it’s why I named my company Intrepid.

Fear is a killer. A killer of life. A killer of innovation. Of creativeness. It stops you from asking her out, stops you from writing your novel, and stops you from making the necessary decisions to properly market your organization or business.

So be fearless.

Fear slows you down. Because you are afraid of negative feedback, or afraid of failing. Don’t be. You won’t learn without failing. You won’t grow fearless without failing. And we all fail. The best of us do. Every day.

So decide to be fearless. Right now.

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 From Seth Godin’s blog.

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The customer experience has been top of mind this week. I have engaged in a lot of discussion and GrowthANSWERS did a live learning event on the subject. For as long as mankind has charged for goods and services, I suppose we have worried – or should have worried – about our customer’s experience. Three observations:

• In a slow economy, focusing on the customer experience is more important than ever.
• In the social media age, never has there been an easier time for customers to publicly complain about a poor customer experience. 
• And never has there been more opportunity for business to quickly understand – address – and solve a customer’s poor experience.

The word is overused, but it’s past time to be innovative in your thinking about your customer’s experience. Consumers continuously make innovative buying decisions – and smart companies observe consumers’ innovative usage of products to make them better.

You must FOCUS on your entire customer experience – and do it better than the competition. This applies to EVERY step in the relationship. From initial contact through the sales process, from purchase to execution. Every decision you make must keep the customer in mind. Doing this, and doing it right, will be a differentiator in your market.

Social media changes everything. Assume a poor customer experience will be reported on in real time. I did. This is a great thing because it will keep us on our toes and alert. Consumers will Twitter about bad experiences IN REAL TIME!

But social media allows you to respond to those bad customer experiences too. You can serve better – and faster. Take advantage. But assume your competition is learning as you read this.

Yes, the customer experience is now 24/7. Acknowledge and celebrate this - and you will succeed. Ignore – and you will fail.

UPDATED: From Twitter, a great point was made by Rich Becker. He said that customer experience has ALWAYS been 24/7. But without social media we just didn’t see it. How true. Another profound reason why social media is changing the rules. In a good way!

Share some innovative things you have done to improve your overall customer experience.

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Three things are happening at once: I am reading Seth Godin’s Tribes, I have a FBMA Board Meeting tomorrow, and today is the day we recognize MLK. And on this day, we think about service.

Thus, my regular theme about “Giving Back” is again top of mind. But reading Seth Godin’s newest book is making me realize that anyone can move mountains if they just provide the leadership AND utilize the tools that give them the leverage to mobilize people and a cause.

You should know two things about me: One, that I serve as a Board Member of the Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta, and two, that I believe strongly that giving back to your community is good marketing.

Inspired by a Seth Godin blog post from the other day, I spent some time on this day of service, and gave back. He suggests doing any number of small tasks that help serve our fellow man. What did I do? Simple. I created a new Twitter account for the Furniture Bank. Something selfless, leveraged, and useful.

Want to help? You can give back by following the Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta on Twitter at @fbma! Help us slowly move some mountains – and make life better for your fellow mankind.

Todd Schnick. Be Intrepid.

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