Intrepid LLC

Ten Reasons To Watch This Video:

1. If you think brand equity applies to you in any way.
2. To be entertained.
3. If you think building community is important.
4. If you hate your job.
5. If doing what you love means something.
6. If you believe “hustle” is important.
7. If you aren’t afraid of hard work.
8. If you believe your legacy is important.
9. Transparency matters.
10. Use all the tools out there to reach people and connect.

[adult language warning]

A big thanks for Scott Sherman for sharing this video. I had never seen it, and I am sure glad I did. Thanks Scott!

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I read somewhere recently that word-of-mouth is STILL the best way to win at marketing. Sorry, I can’t cite the particular source, but you don’t need one. Because you already know this.

There’s just something about third party validation that is very powerful.

Oh sure, blogs are cool. Social media is changing the world. And traditional marketing still works if done right. But still, there is nothing like word-of-mouth “advertising” for your product or service. And you probably know that to win the “word of mouth” game, you need to create something remarkable, something that people will want to talk about and share.

What is important to remember is that you can help people talk about you. You can provide a way to gently encourage your community to spread the word about you. But there are certain steps you have to take to help push it along.

This probably isn’t the first content you have read on this subject. But my goal with this post? To start a dialog about simple strategies one can employ to foster word-of-mouth advertising for their business. Here are a few ideas:

1. Play the face-to-face networking game the right way. And there is a right way to network. Doing it wrong will cost you word-of-mouth points.
2. Do what you say you will do. Keep promises, because if you don’t, people will talk about you, in a bad way.
3. And yes, you need to create a remarkable product or service. This goes without saying. And is easier said than done.
4. You need to be CREATIVE.
5. You need to be insanely focused on the customer experience – never settling and ALWAYS seeking improvements. Talking about good customer experiences is easier than it has ever been.
6. Take advantage of the tools that allow people to share details about you and your business, such as social media, a functional business card, etc…
7. Make it easy for people to tell your story. What is the one sentence about you that people can easily repeat to others? Be sure people know what to say about you and your business.
8. Don’t be afraid to ask your friends and customers for referrals. They may not know you want referrals unless you tell them so.
9. Give value first. If you get known as someone who serves and gives value first – and not focused on making the sale – people will be more likely to tell people about you. People don’t want to refer someone to their friends who will sell sell sell. That reflects poorly on them.
10. Listen well. Being a good listener will make it much more likely that friends will tell their friends that spending time with you is worthwhile.

What strategies did we miss? Please share new ideas!

Be Intrepid.

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A colleague recently told me he wasn’t expected to be creative, since that wasn’t his department. I told him he was wrong. He replied, “Oh please, give me one example over the course of a typical day how little ole me can be creative…”

1. When a customer calls with a problem.
2. When a sales call is stalled.
3. When a prospect asks “what makes you different?”
4. When you think you need to cut prices to be more competitive.
5. When you find yourself wanting to blame the economy for things being slow.
6. When you train new employees.
7. When a prospect says “Hmmm, I’m just not sure, let me think about this a bit more…”
8. When your store has a changeable marquee.
9. When an employee says “I just don’t have enough time to get all that done.”
10. When you think you have competition.
11. When your “competition” offers a new product or service.
12. When you don’t have much money in your marketing budget.
13. When your latest innovation is still popular and bringing in massive sales.
14. When you copy other people’s business ideas too often.
15. Whenever you have a chance to deliver a thirty second elevator speech.
16. When you design your next business card.
17. When you answer your business phone.
18. When you grow tired of networking with the same people at every networking event.
19. When someone asks you “So, what do you do?”
20. How you ask for referrals.
21. How you greet customers when they come into your shop.
22. When you record the message for the company voice mail.
23. When you have the chance to record some audio and/or video for your web site.
24. When you need to update your pricing.
25. When you decide to support a local charity.
26. When you need to upgrade the signage outside your shop.
27. When you can’t understand why blasting spam email just doesn’t seem to be working.
28. When it’s time to determine a new niche market to target.
29. When you have to create a mailing list for your next direct response program.
30. When it’s your turn to treat for lunch, where should you take your client/prospect for a memorable experience.
31. When it’s time to expand your service or product offering.
32. When you need to write the next post for the company blog.
33. What to talk about if you offer a seminar to the local market.
34. When you add a new tactical option to your marketing program.
35. Who you invite into your community with your company’s social media program.
36. What local event you choose to sponsor for your next PR outreach idea.
37. What to write about if you are invited to share thought leadership in a local newsletter.
38. What to give away at the next trade show.
39. What music to play when folks are on hold on your phone system.
40. When it’s time to rearrange your store floor plan.
41. How to acknowledge new customers. Old customers. New prospects. Referral partners.
42. What you can give away for free.
43. What to do when things are slow in the shop for an hour or two.
44. What to do/where to go on the next company retreat.
45. How to reward employees for remarkable work.
46. When you are working to improve internal communications.
47. How to make your web site ridiculously easy for customers to use.
48. When you are coming up with a process for customers to provide feedback.
49. How to organize and communicate to company prospects.
50. Oh yeah, how to be creative when designing new fancy schmancy print collateral…

Get the idea? Please share more ideas! Be Intrepid.

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Hello everyone. Just wanted to quickly touch base on the new look and feel for the Intrepid blog!

Did I really need to do this? Not really. But it is important that I did…

When I last updated my blog, that version went live in November 2008. If I only knew then what I know now…

You will find the new design is much simpler. Cleaner. Easier to read. Uses better tools to track metrics, and provides better tools to help you share content with people you think will benefit.

I want to have a better platform with which to shine a light on the ideas and content that I want to share with you.

So, this new design is for you. I hope you like it, but be sure to share with me any feedback by leaving a comment. See you soon!

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I firmly believe that 99% of the world’s problems result from poor communication. From bad marriages, to failed politics, to international conflicts, etc. – all could be improved with better communication.

And poor communication negatively impacts your business – and your personal brand too. If you don’t take even simple steps to improve your ability to communicate – you and your business will soon become irrelevant.

So, here are some ideas, tips, and strategies to become a better communicator. This is an incomplete list. We will post more down the road. And we hope you add some more in the comments. But here is a good start:

1. Dedicate time each day to reach out to friends, clients, and prospects.

2. Write a personal note to new prospects.

3. Use your favorite RSS reader to follow different blogs each day – and comment on several.

4. Be honest.

5. Be yourself.

6. Serve others.

7. Spread value.

8. Use social media and Google news alerts to keep track of friends and clients.

9. Send handwritten thank you notes to customers.

10. Recommend valuable members of your Twitter community on #followfriday.

11. Wish friends a Happy Birthday on Facebook.

12. Answer people’s questions on LinkedIn.

13. Don’t misspell. Check your grammar.

14. Make sure your email signature has something of value in it.

15. Return phone calls promptly.

16. Don’t SPAM!

17. Don’t sell anything at a networking function. Provide value.

18. Start a conversation. It’s downhill from there!

19. Listen first.

20. Read a little each day. Being well read makes you a better conversationalist.

21. When you have an audience’s attention, don’t waste the opportunity. Take the time to prepare meaningful comments. You don’t get many chances to have a room full of people listen to you…

22. Don’t prejudge anyone. You never know what may happen with someone you say hello to, even if they don’t look like someone you would normally interact with…

23. Activate an internal social media system in your business or organization. Something like Yammer, or Ning. You’ll be surprised at how things get better by facilitating internal communications!

24. Don’t self promote.

25. Be easy to find. Nothing frustrates more when a customer can’t find you!

26. Speak and write conversationally. Technical jargon makes it hard to understand you…

27. If you take the time to prepare a meaningful presentation, record it, and share it with your community as a video or podcast.

What did we miss? We will post a second list down the road, but let us know some communication strategies that you want to see included!

Be Intrepid .

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Be An Intrepid Marketer – Recommendation No. 28

If you are not currently seeking real, honest feedback from your customers, you are missing out. Big time!

There is no better way to learn ways to improve the customer experience – than to ask the customer what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved. And the amazing thing is? It is so easy to do. And yet so many don’t do it.

Why? Are they afraid to receive negative feedback? If so, then it’s time to quit.

As readers of this blog know, I do the marketing for FuegoMundo Wood-Fire Grill. We just opened our doors last week. So far, we are thrilled with the traffic and the early reviews!

But let me tell you something, there are two clear reasons why we are getting strong early reviews:

1. The FuegoMundo team worked hard to begin building a place where we could deliver a good customer experience.

2. We asked a lot of people for feedback. Before we opened.

How did this happen? We had SIX separate events where we invited people to the restaurant, allowed them to live the experience, and then when done, gave them a detailed form to collect feedback.

And man did we get some, and it improved the way we do things. What resulted from the feedback from about 250 people was menu changes, staff procedure changes, messaging changes, and strategic marketing changes.

It made us better.

[Do you know how easy it was to get people to participate? Just get on Twitter and Facebook and invite them to participate. Easy - if you define "easy" as working for months to build a community online using social media...]

And now that we are open, we are still aggressively seeking feedback. The artwork seen in this blog post is the very customer feedback card that rests on each table in the restaurant. You can’t imagine how many cards were filled out just in the first three days…

We want to hear from you. We want you to tell us what we can do better. Sure, we like hearing good stuff, which helps us know we are on the right track. But seriously, we need to know the bad stuff. That’s the only way we can improve. That’s the only way we can, together with our community, create something that people will want to talk about and share.

And that’s how we will grow. That’s how we will succeed. That’s how we will build momentum to start a second location.

And it all starts with asking your customer for a little feedback.

Be Intrepid.

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Be Intrepid.

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