Intrepid LLC

Usually, something that is solid, that doesn’t move, that is unchanging, immobile, etc…is something we rely on, something that can be counted on, something that seems like a steady foundation. Almost comforting, if you will.

But not in the modern world of marketing. When it comes to your web presence, you don’t want to be described as unchanging or immobile. Your web presence needs to be…ENGAGING.

That’s what intrepid marketers do. [More text below video]

[In the video below, I discuss the value of an engaging web presence:]

Here are a few tactical ideas you can use to provide an engaging web presence:

1. Incorporate a blog into your site.
2. Allow comments on your blog.
3. Respond and engage people when they comment.
4. Provide forums to facilitate conversation.
5. Invite guest contributors.
6. Connect people to your social web tools, like Twitter.
7. Utilize surveys tools.
8. Solicit questions from your audience…
9. …and be sure to answer them!
10. Make it easy to share your content.
11. Invite people to join your e-newsletter.
12. Use an Instant Messenger plug in to invite conversation. Hold regular hours.
13. Provide content with various mediums, such as video and audio.

The items listed above are not new. They are not rocket science. In fact, I suppose when you reviewed the list, you probably said something along the lines of “no kidding.”

Yet I continue to be amazed how many entrepreneurs have chosen not to incorporate these simple tactical options into their web presence.

But that said, it is what you do with these ideas that matter. Here are a few reasons why having an engaging presence matters:

1. Strengthens your brand.
2. Allows relationships to develop. This is where the sales come from.
3. Simplifies process of testing – and getting feedback on – new ideas.
4. Does a better job educating people about you and your business.
5. Makes it easier to teach and help and serve others.
6. Allows for better story telling.
7. Not to mention provides fresh and unique content – updated regularly – that keeps people coming back for more.
8. Oh, and added Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strength.

At the end of the day, it is the safe and easy path to build a static website – one that is solid, reliable, and unchanging. But dare I say it is lazy? And boring? Static sites just don’t cut it any more in this fast-paced, conversational, and engaging world we now live in.

What do you think?

[Learn the 99 ways to be an INTREPID marketer]
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cartoon by @gapingvoid

Have you ever attended a networking session, and encountered this scenario? Say a mechanic gets up to speak, and he says “A good lead for me today is anyone you know who owns a car or truck.”

What the?

Hearing this is like nails on a chalkboard for me. I have a feeling this guy is thinking this is good for him, in that he is casting a wide net to catch ALL fish.

But sadly, this is a sign of a completely LAZY marketer. Someone taking the easy way out. And my guess is his business is struggling. I mean, seriously. What does he think I am going to do, give him my entire rolodex?

In fact, this mechanic is doing the exact opposite of what he should do to grow his business, and find MORE customers. He needs to do what will feel quite counter-intuitive to him – laser focus on one specific niche.

What happens when you cast too wide a net? You find very few clients.  And what happens then? You take on TOO MANY of the wrong clients. And then you are overwhelmed with too much “bad” work, and probably for too small a fee.

Either way, applying some minimalist principles to your targeting process will pay big dividends to your marketing program.

Focus on ONE type of prospect. Just one. In the case of the mechanic? Don’t narrow your focus to Fords. Narrow your focus to Ford pick-ups.

[This doesn't mean the mechanic can't help fix a Chevy should it pull into the garage - it just means his marketing focus should be on Ford pick-ups...ONLY.]

But this only works under two conditions:

One, that you become the best in the market at fixing Ford pick-ups. You should become known as the go-to guy in the event anyone’s Ford pick-up needs servicing. I mean it…the best in your market.

And two, you are going to have to adjust your marketing program to target owners of Ford pick-ups. This is easier than casting a large net, I promise. But it does require some creative thinking, some strategy, and a sustained effort over time to reach out and build real relationships with owners of Ford pick-ups.

The other minimalist impact on your marketing as a result of narrowing your focus? You then also simplify your marketing message. What you say to Ford pick-up owners is different than if you had to speak to ALL car and truck owners. [And if you don't understand this concept...call me. We need to talk.] But if you are targeting too many people, you probably have too many marketing messages. As a result, your message is muddled, and your marketing suffers…

Narrowing your focus to a specific niche simplifies your marketing, and makes it less complicated. Selling is hard enough. Don’t make it more complicated than it has to be.

What do you think?

[See the original post that inspired the Minimalist Marketing series]
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Popularity: 7% [?]

cartoon by @gapingvoid

In my examination of what makes for intrepid marketers, it is clear to me that they are simply master storytellers. They can take complex issues, and make them simple. They can take ordinary people, and make them legends. They can take boring things, and make them scintillating.

In other words, they are master storytellers. They talk about things that matter. They keep you riveted. They make you believe. They are master marketers. They are intrepid marketers.

There are many tools at their disposal. But what most intrepid marketers utilize in their quest to do something remarkable, is a blog. It is amazing to me how many individuals and small business people still do not blog. But the list of people who are achieving big things and living big dreams because of their blog is a steadily growing list.

But just why is that happening to that select and intrepid group? Here are a few reasons…

The free form of a blog is liberating, and conducive to storytelling. There are relatively few constraints on a blog, and spirited, creative thinkers thrive in this medium.

But ordinary people can make something happen too. I mean, look at me for chrissakes…

Blogs facilitate conversation. And as any intrepid marketer knows, this is what the new marketing is all about.

Blogs don’t care if some new idea you are trying out tanks, big time. You can always write new content the next day.

Blogs demand that you be different, edgy, living on the edge, pushing the envelope. That nice tri-fold brochure you have? That is so yesterday…

Blogs just seem to work better when you are being yourself. Be yourself, yes, but speak your damn mind. Be honest. Be transparent.

So, if you currently aren’t blogging, get out there and do it. Try it. Experiment. It can be free. And the lessons you learn, and the experiences you achieve, will be worth the effort. Two key thoughts:

Blogs require a sustained effort over time. Blogging takes a while. Don’t retire after ten posts. It works, but slowly…

Blogs work best when you use them to spin electronic yarns. About whatever the heck you are passionate about. I mean, I really can’t think of a better medium to facilitate good story telling. Use them!

What do you think?

[Read my list of 99 ways to be an Intrepid marketer.]
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Popularity: 7% [?]

cartoon by @gapingvoid

I am as big an advocate of fully engaging on the social web as anyone…

By this, I mean that you should blog. You should read other blogs via your RSS reader, and be a part of conversations on those blogs. And you should be active on all those other social web tools such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Foursquare, etc. etc…

But you know as well as I do that if you are not careful, you can lose control. And your activity on the social web will be ALL CONSUMING. And you can spend HOURS playing in the sandbox and not advance your business goals.

It has happened to me. And I am working hard to figure out ways to simplify my presence and activity there. Without sacrificing the benefits.

Here is my best advice to you in terms of how you should view the social web as a marketing strategy for your business:

FOCUS ONLY ON ENGAGING AND SERVING PEOPLE.

If you only do this, you will be on the right path to getting the results you want on the social web. Here are some tips to apply minimalist principles to your social web strategy:

Keep Connections Relevant. It really is quality over quantity. Who cares if you have 100,000 followers if none of them care what you say? Don’t focus time and energy on just racking up hollow follower counts (and do the things listed below, and your list will grow naturally).

Look out for a few key words. If you help authors, you should be searching for messages that contain the word “authors.” You will find someone who needs your help – if you are looking and listening.

Strike up sincere conversation. Don’t just send out one-way sales messages. Find people you can help or want to know, and talk to them. It is these conversations that will lead to business opportunities.

Share with your community. If you are not trying to generate a meaningful conversation, then you should be focused on sharing meaningful content. This helps your network, and can lead to conversations too…

That’s it. Your time on the social web really should be kept that simple. Make it a goal to connect in a meaningful way with ONE person a day. Before long, you have quite a powerful network.

Too often, we get distracted and just lose our way. We get caught up artificially growing our followers, or playing with shiny new tools, or focused on self-promotion.

So keep it minimal. Keep it simple. It is easy to lose sight of your real business purpose on the social web. Keep your goals, and the activity you do on the social web, simple. Follow only the right people. Read only the blogs that help you advance your cause. Do this, and you’re on the right path!

What do you think?

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I recorded this video following a recent run. It was one of my first longer distance runs (for me anyways) and I had to push myself to get through it. And it made me think that intrepid marketers often have to push themselves to achieve. And they aren’t afraid of pushing the envelope either… Enjoy!

Need help pushing the envelope? Click HERE to Be Intrepid!

Popularity: 8% [?]

I’ve been doing some reading and experimenting on this topic. I think social search/real-time search is an important step forward for the social web. Big time. In this episode, I claim that intrepid marketers fully embrace this, and aggressively seek to take advantage of it. Enjoy!

Here is a VIDEO from Google to get you up to speed!

Learn how to Be Intrepid here!

Popularity: 9% [?]

The first in a series of blog posts discussing how we can all be intrepid marketers. In this episode, I talk about how we must NOT be afraid to try new marketing tools (apps, online tools, software, hardware, new technology). I suspect a majority of what we experiment with will not work for our business, but you just might land on something that may change your business. Forever.

The online, social web, and technology sites referenced in the video: TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable + Foursquare…

How we help you Be Intrepid…

Popularity: 8% [?]

The Graduate

Just last night, I watched the classic film The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. Truly one of the coolest films ever made, it is one of my top 10 favs. And not just because Simon and Garfunkel did the music.

You recall the film. It tells the tale of Ben Braddock, fresh out of school, but clueless as to what to do with his life. In his confusion and quest to find answers, he falls for an older woman, the wife of his father’s business partner.

Being the marketing guy with a permanent thirst to learn as much as I can about marketing, I look for lessons and answers every where I can. So, watching the film last night, I looked for marketing lessons while watching the film. And damn, if I don’t think I found some profound lessons we all can benefit from. Thanks Ben, Mrs. Robinson, and Elaine. Enjoy.

1. Don’t conform. Don’t fall prey to the expectations of others. Ben’s father had much different aspirations for Ben’s future. Go your own way. The way your instincts guide you.
2. Don’t always say yes. Remember the family friend who suggests that Ben should get into “plastics?” You don’t always have to say yes. Make smart decisions. [see below]
3. Don’t be timid. Remember when Ben was checking in to the hotel for his first rendezvous with Mrs. Robinson, and he was very timid with the desk clerk? Funniest scene in the film. Don’t worry what people think about simple, mundane stuff. Live life to the full. It will make you a better marketer.
4. Celebrate conversation. Deep into the affair, Ben got more comfortable with Mrs. Robinson, and he tried to engage her in more conversation in an attempt to get to know her. She obviously had no desire. It probably drove Ben off, off on to a path she wasn’t happy about. Don’t avoid conversation.
5. Don’t be who you are not. Remember when he took Elaine out on their first date, and he tried to scare her off by being someone he is not? It didn’t work for Ben. He was better off when he went back to being himself. Be real. Be sincere.
6. Know what your goals are. Remember when Ben declared to his parents that he was marrying Elaine, but then shared that he actually hadn’t asked her yet? Classic moment. Turned the tide of the film. Take a lesson from this – don’t be afraid to declare what you want.
7. Don’t let a “NO” dissuade you. Remember when Elaine was still mad at Ben for having an affair with her mother? Most would walk away. You will hear “no” a lot in life. It doesn’t mean the quest is over.
8. Don’t fear obstacles. Remember when Ben was on the way to stop the wedding and his car ran out of gas? He kept going. Kept going until he got what he wanted.
9. Be persistent. Remember how Ben kept after Elaine even when she went back to school at Berkeley? He kept after her.
10. Try new things. Hell, if Mrs. Robinson tried to seduce me, I’d have done the same thing too… Celebrate opportunities. You will learn a lot…

Popularity: 13% [?]

cartoon by @gapingvoid

There are thousands of blogs about personal branding, half a million personal branding experts, and thousands upon thousands of personal branding books…

Point is, there is an awful lot of thought leadership and advice on the topic of personal branding out there to be found. And much of it is good stuff. And things you should pay close attention to.

But what they all do is TELL YOU how to build your own personal brand. As in, here are the things YOU should do to build your own brand. In fact, I think you get trapped into thinking what YOU want to hear and say, not necessarily what YOUR AUDIENCE wants or needs to know.

[It is important to remember - you can't just create a personal brand out of thin air, or hire a consultant to create your brand. You have to earn a brand by performance, results, discipline, and hard work. Over time.]

And that’s all fine and good. And important. But when thinking about personal branding, I think we should change our perspective – and look at the process of building your personal brand another way. Might give you some fresh ideas to create something truly unique!

There is a target audience you care about, right? So what do the people you are looking to make an impression on care about? What is it they are looking for? What do they want? What is important to them? What will make you stand out in their eyes?

When constructing your personal brand, and when considering the means by which you will tell and share your story, you should think about how your target audience will answer the following questions (and this is by no means a complete list – please add your own ideas in the comments):

1. Does this person CARE about me? I mean, really care about helping me?
2. Does this person SERVE their community?
3. Does this person GIVE FIRST and SELL LAST?
4. Is it CLEAR what this person does? Can I describe what they do in one sentence?
5. What is this person known for? What is their skill? What problem can they solve?
6. What is the ONE compelling reason I should seek to build a relationship with them?
7. Does this person get the concept of TEAM? Are they collaborators? In any type of context?
8. Are they agents of CHANGE?
9. Are they trying to make a DIFFERENCE in the world?
10. Is this person PASSIONATE about who they are, and what they are about?

So, assume that your target market is asking questions like these. Are you building a personal brand that will present well when those questions are answered by your target audience? You need to think long and hard about how you want your target market, your target audience, to identify with you, to want you to be a part of their circle. What do you want them to say about you? What do you want them to tell others when they talk about you?

Be Intrepid.

Popularity: 19% [?]

OK, so I made a complete fool of myself yesterday…

I was meeting with a client who is launching a blog very soon. He remodels homes. He is a sharp looking fellow. He is a master craftsman. He is the perfect candidate to do a lot of fun – and effective – video demonstrating home improvement ideas for his blog (amongst many other ideas).

So here’s Todd, walking around Starbucks with his flip, demonstrating a style and attitude that I think will work great on this guy’s blog. At one point, I am on my knees pretending to talk about how to repair Starbucks floorboards…

And yeah, patrons in Starbucks were looking at me strangely. But who cares. In fact, it is even fun demonstrating using video in your marketing…

That said, utilizing video in a creative way to help add some pop to your marketing is an increasingly popular way to go-to-market. Buying high quality, high definition, video cameras that are SIMPLE to use, is as easy nowadays as buying a calculator in the check-out line. I use a Flip UltraHD camera…

Here are a few examples of some folks doing it right:

How Chris Jordan can even make insurance fun:

Stephanie Frost simply talking about an example of poor customer service. This video got picked up and was featured on the Huffington Post and on Diane Sawyer:

My model for successful vlogging, Chris Brogan. Demonstrating what “overnight success” looks like:

Stephanie Lloyd and I have fun talking about marketing and social media on He Said, She Said:

So here are a few things to keep in mind to make marketing with video fun – and effective:

1. Be yourself.
2. Make it memorable.
3. Keep it short. These things don’t have to longer that 90 seconds to have an impact.
4. You don’t have to be funny, but humor helps make it memorable.
5. Be helpful. Serve. Try to impart information that really helps people.
6. Remember that you don’t have to produce Oscar-caliber quality or editing for your videos to be effective.
7. Be sure that when you upload them to a video site, such as YouTube, that you tag them properly with the right keywords to make them more searchable.
8. Be real. If you are fake, you will lessen the impact. Considerably.
9. Don’t rely ONLY on video. Integrate it into a broader marketing program.
10. Remember, video isn’t for everyone. Find the medium that works best for you. And use it!

So, good luck. And if you can, leave some links in the comments with OTHER examples of people doing marketing right with video. Thanks!

Popularity: 25% [?]