Intrepid LLC

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% [?]

The MacBook Pro (from store.apple.com)

Well, I have finally made the decision. The decision I have NOT made with the last two computer purchases. I am finally switching to a Mac.

A MacBook Pro, in fact. Will probably happen sometime in the next month or two. And I can’t wait.

So I stopped by an Apple store at a crazy-silly-busy-suburban Atlanta mall yesterday with a friend. Not to make the purchase, but to ask some questions and learn as much as we could.

So, we walk into the store, only to see about 1,200 people in there. I almost turned around and left. But we headed in anyway and started looking at machines. And we were overwhelmed, to be honest.

[btw, the last Apple computer I had was an Apple IIc. It did enable graduation from college.]

Eventually we make contact with a gentleman named Matt. Young fellow. Just what you’d expect from an Apple employee (earrings, headset, cool hip Apple clothes, graphic designer by trade).

And if I had my wallet, I would have bought on the spot. He was the most engaging fellow, and man oh man did he know his stuff. Spent an hour with us. Answered every question. Answered every. stoopid. question.

I will just cut to the chase, so allow me to simply list the reasons our interaction with Matt solidified my conversion to a Mac. Pay close attention and apply his tactics to your situation:

1. He cared. He genuinely cared about our (my) stoopid questions. Never once losing patience with the inane crap coming out of my mouth.
2. He actually said “Hey no worries. I have nowhere to be. Let’s take our time!”
3. Being long-time PC users, we are burdened with PC thinking. He spent time explaining that the transitions would be easy ones…
4. But he also walked us through ways to keep as much of the PC experience, in case we needed to.
5. He really knew his stuff. I suppose Apple does a solid job training their people, but I don’t know this for sure. In any event, he knew a lot.
6. He was prepared for – and anticipated – all our (my) stoopid questions, with easy to understand answers and good metaphors to help goofs like me understand.
7. He didn’t upsell. Yeah, he could have sold us on higher priced equipment, but after carefully listening to how we use our machines, made it clear we would do well with less potent machines.
8. He. was. for. real. There was no “fake” in this guy. He sincerely came across as if he would rather be nowhere else.
9. He was passionate about Apple. I asked him about the iPad, curious to see how he’d respond, and wondering if he’d come across lukewarm. And frankly, after his passionate response, I now want one.
10. Apple salesmen do not work on commission. Which was glorious. Whoever decided on that policy ought to be commended. When I asked for Matt’s card, he said “Hey, I don’t work on commission. So remember, anyone here can serve you well.”

But the critical lesson here? He cared about us. He cared that all our questions were answered. And he cared enough to spend an hour of his day helping us learn, KNOWING we were not going to buy that day.

The point is, if you sincerely care about your customers and prospects, you will market yourself well. However that manifests itself…

Popularity: 12% [?]

cartoon by @gapingvoid

Consultant: “How did you do in meeting the goals of your 2009 marketing plan? Did you stay on budget?

Typical small business person: “Wait, what? Marketing plan did you say? Budget? I was supposed to have a budget?

Consultant: “Let’s review your social media plan. Did you accomplish your goals?”

Typical small business person: “What? Social media strategy? You can do that?

Consultant: “How did the call to action on your marketing collateral work? Did prospects and customers take the steps you wanted to advance the sales process?”

Typical small business person: “I am not sure what you are talking about, but man, my brochures are sure pretty!”

cartoon by @gapingvoid

Consultant: “How did your keywords perform on your website and blog?”

Typical small business person: “I have no idea, but my cousin who designed the site says her friends think the site looks bitchin’!”

Consultant: “So, with your email marketing campaign, did your prospects contact you to learn more or advance the sales process?”

Typical small business person: “No clue, but most of the people I blindly added to my database unsubscribed and gave me lip about ’spam’.”

Consultant: “So, did you try some new things with your marketing? Try any new tactics, new messaging, any new social media tools?”

Typical small business person: “No. I stuck to the same stuff that hasn’t really worked too well before, but you know, I didn’t have any money to try something new that might work.”

cartoon by @gapingvoid

Consultant: “What good marketing books did you read this year? Did you find any great marketing blogs to help you learn new things?”

Typical small business person: “No, but I think I learned some cool advertising stuff watching Mad Men…”

Consultant: “Did you hone your skills at building community and establishing relationships on tools like Twitter and Facebook?”

Typical small business person: “Huh? No, but I passed along my free e-book, the results of my IQ test, an invite to join my mafia family, and the link to my blog to all new followers and friends!”

Consultant: “Have you narrowed your marketing focus down to a highly specific, easily targeted niche?”

Typical small business owner: “Are you nuts? I am not missing out on hitting all those darn people…”

cartoon by @gapingvoid

Consultant: “Have you narrowed your focus to the right networking groups that are in your target market?”

Typical small business person: “Are you nuts? I am not getting many leads from the bunch of groups I am visiting, so clearly I just need to hit as many darn networking groups as I can…”

Consultant: “Tell me about your lead generation and lead incubation system? How do you feed good solid prospects into your pre-purchase experience?”

Typical small business person: “Huh?”

cartoon by @gapingvoid

The point here? Thinking strategically and putting a plan on paper is too important NOT to do. Yet, too many small business people jump into their daily routine without so much as a plan on how to proceed. The questions [by no means a complete list of pertinent questions] above serve one purpose: if you can personally identify with even one of those mini scenarios, you need to pull back, take advantage of the quieter holiday season, and think some things through as you prepare for 2010.

Good luck!

Popularity: 16% [?]

cartoon by @gapingvoid

I was at an event last week, and engaged in a pleasant conversation with a fellow who worked for a local corporation. This gentleman had a decent job and wasn’t worried about losing it. In fact, it was apparent to me that he was very comfortable and almost complacent.

Being the marketing guy I am, I of course asked him about his role in the company’s marketing. His answer? “I don’t have a role in the company’s marketing.”

It amazes me every time I hear that. Sadly, it doesn’t surprise me anymore. Because what I know is that customer service is a very big piece of marketing, and most people, like the corporate gentleman cited above, don’t understand that.

But at this same event I run across a half dozen folks who are solopreneurs, people who do the sales, admin, and the product work – all themselves. These are the sort that do most of their sales and marketing at networking events, and you see them everywhere running the networking circuit. When I ask them the same question, their answer is different, but the same. Although being 100% responsible for their marketing, their answer is usually something like “I just don’t have the time” or “my budget is tight, so I have to cut back on my marketing.”

This too vexes me. But again, I am not surprised. And in their case, they aren’t even thinking about customer service. They are talking about the sales process…

Before I go on, I want to define what I mean by “marketing” when I ask the questions above. I am talking about an intense focus on your prospective and/or current customer. And focusing intensely on their overall experience. And by that I mean their pre and post-purchase experience. Customer service in other words.

Now when I proclaim to them that neither care about customer service, both snap back at me and proclaim “how dare you say that.” But deep inside, you know I am right. Now that said, both do probably care about customer service, but do both really CARE about customer service? We all know exercise is important, but a lot of us sit on the couch and watch old reruns of Seinfeld…

Watch this video of David Meerman Scott. He is describing the corporate guy above:

The point that David is making in this video is that the corporate folks are sitting around in meetings making stuff up and guessing, instead of mixing it up, engaging and getting dirty with real prospects and customers — finding out what they really want and need. [and yes, social media is a great way to get out in the world, ask these questions, and get answers]

What I am getting at here is twofold: One, every member of a larger organization, from the C-Level executive to the receptionist, has an important role in customer service. It’s not just the people answering the customer service hot line — and I will submit a majority of people answering that phone don’t care about customer service either…

And two, the typical solopreneur I run across on a daily basis believes they don’t have the time to focus on customer service, let alone sit back and think about ways to innovate and make it better. I’ve got a message for you: that should be ALL you think about.

We all need to be aware that today’s consumer has more ability to publicly comment about their customer experience – pro or con – than ever before. As a result, we need to be more attuned and focused on the customer experience than ever before. And I mean INTENSELY FOCUSED. OBSESSIVELY SO.

Every member of an organization, from middle management in a large company, to the one-man shop, needs to focus on the following:

1. Improving the pre-purchase experience
2. Improving the post-purchase experience
3. How to better handle customer problems
4. Better enabling sharing and helping spread the word about you and your service
5. Don’t sell. Serve. Help. Build. Grow.

Yeah, there are other things you could be thinking about. But a focus on the above five will be a strong baseline with which to start. So, get out of that cubicle or conference room, and start really understanding how you can spend time improving on the five items listed above. If you are the solopreneur, shift your paradigm and your thinking on your marketing, execution, and admin to how you can improve on those five things.

To survive in today’s marketplace, you have no choice.

Now, many of you solopreneurs will be angry with me for saying that you aren’t as focused on customer service as you should be. Do you know why I am saying that? Because I am one of you. As much as I talk about it, I need to do a better job of it myself. And I can promise you that increasing my focus on improvements on those five items above will be a MAJOR goal of my 2010 calendar year.

What do you think? Let us know!

Be Intrepid.

Popularity: 19% [?]

cartoon by @gapingvoid

So one of the family vehicles needed an oil change and a new break light. This resulted in a quick trip to Jiffy Lube. Now, I don’t mind admitting that I don’t know squat about vehicles.

And as you would expect, as I am sitting in the waiting room, the gentleman working on my vehicle comes in every few minutes saying I need a wee bit of this, and a wee bit of that.

Sadly, carspeak is so foreign to me that he could be talking about my lawn mower. So, what does this make me? A perfect candidate to be up-sold a lot of stuff. Stuff maybe I don’t need.

It’s a great strategy, actually. If you don’t mind screwing over your customer. But there is this thing called integrity.

Now please note: I am NOT suggesting that Jiffy Lube did anything malicious to me. In fact, I have been going to this joint for years. And will continue to do so.

But I am just saying… There are plenty of folks out there that look for suckers. In fact, when I jokingly tweeted that I was the perfect Jiffy Lube phony up-sell target, I got a bunch of messages back indicating others had been victims of similar experiences.

Point is, we all worry about that.

And as a business person, you should worry about that. And be sure you aren’t doing that to your customers. Because that’s a one way ticket to being called out very publicly on the internet in front of the entire planet. And getting out of business fast.

But up-selling is a critical strategy to growing your business. If you do it right – and with sincere intentions of helping your customer better solve their problems or fulfill their needs.

What is up-selling? Wikipedia says up-selling is a sales technique whereby a salesperson induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale.

As I was contemplating this post earlier today, I was watching a little TV. I heard the “nails on a chalkboard” line that drives me nuts: “Wait! There’s More!”

Do you know how many millions and millions of dollars have been spent AFTER hearing this line? There are suckers out there who buy the extra stuff those TV ads are selling. But sometimes, just sometimes, there is real value there.

You really do need to think long and hard about what products or services you can up-sell your customers. Adding this strategy to your marketing effort is a proven way to GROW your business. I think sadly that a lot of serious business people don’t try to up-sell because they are afraid of being lumped into the “Wait! There’s More” category of salesmen.

And if you really are doing it in the spirit of trying to steal a dollar from your customer, you deserve a hard and painful death. But if you sincerely offer additional products or services to further advance the easing of your customer’s pain, it is a great service to them…

…And a way to GROW your business.

Be Intrepid.

Popularity: 7% [?]

In round 7 of He Said, She Said, Todd and Stephanie discuss the different ways they go to market using their respective radio shows.

Stephanie is host of Dream Job Radio, and Todd is co-host of the High Velocity Radio Show…

To see the original post of Round 7 on the He Said, She Said Blog, click here!

To see Stephanie’s Radiant Veracity version of Round 7, click here!

Popularity: 3% [?]

My salvation...

OK, so I finally have my own product innovation story to tell…

In the mornings, when I am in my office, I add a little french vanilla cream to my coffee. That’s just my thing. Don’t do that when I am on the road, or meeting someone in a coffee shop.

So, for the longest time, I used the International Delight brand. Love the taste. Still do. And I even think it has slightly less fat/carbs/calories (whatever) than the other brand I would use IF International Delight wasn’t in the store.

But there was one thing I hated about using International Delight. When I had to open a new container, I would have to remove that silly little tinfoil thing covering the opening. I hate that thing. I mean hate. I would pull and grab, grab and pull. Inevitably, I would have to grab a knife and stab at the damn thing as if I were killing a large animal.

Anyways, just the other day I was at the store. I needed more cream. Publix was out of International Delight. So I picked up a container of Nestles Coffee-Mate, which was always my fall-back option. The next morning, when opening the container, I noticed a new (at least new to me on my coffee creamers) innovation. It was the plastic tab ring where you slip a finger into the loop, and gently pull a plastic seal right off the container.

I’ve seen this before, on milk cartons, orange juice and such. But never on my coffee containers. It was a most glorious moment. I wanted to cry. And for once, I didn’t have to waste a whole knife to open my coffee creamer.

So, at the end of the day, I am now officially a Nestles Coffee-Mate consumer of french vanilla coffee creamer. And all it took was changing my customer experience on opening the container (one shouldn’t appear to be a deranged killer when opening coffee creamer).

The lesson here? To bring in new customers, you don’t have to necessarily re-brand yourself. You don’t have to spend one billion dollars on an advertising campaign. You don’t have to film a video that you hope and pray ends up going viral.

All you have to do is think and act creatively to make the customer experience a better one. And oftentimes, it is the LITTLE things that can have a dramatic impact on whether your products sells.

So seek to make a customer’s life easier. To make their life better. Faster. Simpler. More productive. More efficient. Less costly. More profound. More enjoyable. You get the idea. The story will spread. I promise.

You never know what may happen. Someone out there may even write a small blog post about their experience…

What product innovation stories can you share?

Be Intrepid.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Enjoy this video by Stone Payton and myself. It is some raw and human thinking about what CircleNomics means to us. CircleNomics is the set of disciplines and natural laws which govern one’s capacity to draw quality relationships and profitable business into their “circle.”

If you believe in the old school method of interruption marketing, then you should probably NOT watch this video…

Popularity: 1% [?]

Readers of this blog have been hearing me say for a long, long time to do something exciting and different with their marketing.

Well, I have taken my own advice. I have accepted the invitation of original host Stone Payton to join him on the mic for The High Velocity Radio Show!

Stone and I have big plans for the show. We will have guests that will talk about bringing fast, innovative change to their business, who get better business results in less time, and who practice the art of CircleNomics – bringing quality relationships and profitable business into their circle.

But stay tuned as we grow and evolve this show!

So, not only do we get to interact with a wide collection of fascinating, innovative, and successful business leaders, we get to share their valuable insights with our own community. And that is the best part about it!

But what a great way to meet people and interact with them in a serious way. One could continue to cold call and/or spam people with interruption marketing tactics in hopes of getting them to respond… Or you could invite them to share their knowledge on the radio. Hmmm…

I’ve chosen my new approach. But as I’ve said, it isn’t about Stone or myself. It isn’t even about the guests on our show. It’s really about our listeners – and providing them with helpful and valuable content that helps them learn, grow and become better business leaders.

Comment below if you are interested in being on the show, or want to suggest a future guest for the show. Or use the “Ask A Question” form to the immediate right. We would love to hear from you!

Thanks Stone, for the opportunity to join you on this adventure. It’s gonna be a wild ride!

Tune in to The High Velocity Radio Show Monday mornings at 1000AM Eastern time! As Stone says, see you in the fast lane!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Photo by ocean.flynn on Flickr

Be An Intrepid Marketer – Recommendation No. 29

I was jointly conducting a workshop this weekend, where the topic of networking was front and center. A main theme throughout the workshop, when talking about both face-to-face networking and social media – is giving value first.

By this I mean thinking about others first. Putting yourself in the servant’s heart mindset first. The last thing you should really focus on? Selling.

[I promise, serving first will result in new business...]

The main point of this post is to tell you that you have to change your thinking, change your discipline, and force yourself into a mindset where you are always looking for ways to help and serve people.

You have to LISTEN to people, and identify opportunities to help people, whether that is sending them a referral, sending them an article or blog post on something they will find useful, or whether you can connect them with someone who will be important for them to know.

But…

If you are in a selling mindset, you just don’t see these opportunities. And trust me, we all fall into this. You have to discipline yourself to change your mindset into that of a servant, and once you do, you will see countless ways to help people.

Discipline yourself to do this, and you will see good karma come back to you, big time!

Be Intrepid.

Popularity: 2% [?]