Archive for January, 2009

The telephone, a cup of coffee & your beautiful face

Posted by ArcherTC on January 26, 2009  |   No Comments »

Old-school lessons in marketing

I was reading a Q&A column today in the LATimes by Karen E. Klein (http://cli NULL.gs/EWu6v6) on new business marketing. A reader had asked her, how do I as a new small business owner selling designer hats get the word out about my business. The answer from Karen: “promote yourself online as a fashion expert.” As a small business owner myself with forays into social media, I am surprised by how much Karen’s advice did not ring true for me. Surely not all of the answers to our business marketing needs are now to be found online?

Perhaps Karen was feeling rushed (not a lot of column space for the advice she might have given were this reader sitting across from her in her office). Or perhaps Karen was feeling high on all the energy that Twitter (http://twitter NULL.com), Facebook (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com) and LinkedIn (http://www NULL.linkedin NULL.com) are generating these days. I know I often do. But, still, I don’t buy it. And were I Karen, I might advise another path.

Hm. Good idea.

Dear ChicHatDesign,

Speaking from old experience in nonprofit fundraising, there are two key principles to live by. One, ask. Two, ask your friends first. While the promise of online marketing will help you grow your business, getting the word out should start close to home with those who know you, trust your work and want to support your success. That means letting your friends and family know that you’ve launched your new business and asking them to pass on the news to their friends (word-of-mouth campaign). That means (re)connecting with old colleagues to update them on your new business venture (networking). That means researching and making appointments with the businesses in your local town or city that could be promoters for your products as distributors or partners.

This doesn’t mean that you should forgo the fast-growing online marketplace. Absolutely not! This plan above presumes that you’ve done some infrastructure work that will make venturing further afield more viable and less frustrating. You’ve taken photos of your products, put together a print and online catalog, and even printed your business cards for those face-to-face meetings with the storefront sellers.

Still, and while it may be a matter of opinion, I believe there are plenty of people who see buying from their friends and from locally owned businesses as much of a priority as buying organic and they are willing to pay a premium for the opportunity.

And isn’t the point of all this social media about building strong relationships? Why start then with strangers?

– Tammi

Flickr photo credit: Arend Kuester and a nod to Karen, who does great work.

Web Analytics 101, Part 2

Posted by ArcherTC on January 26, 2009  |   No Comments »

When using Web analytics, it’s easy to get caught up in all the numbers and statistics and lose sight of the overall goal — getting the intelligence you need to make effective adjustments to your Web site and online marketing strategies to increase the ROI your site delivers. It doesn’t do any good to use Web analytics to produce cool charts and reports but then fail to make adjustments to improve your site’s performance!

To illustrate how Web analytics can be used to make decisions to improve the effectiveness of an online marketing strategy and the performance of a Web site, consider the following examples:

Web Analytics 101, Part 2 – Search Engine Watch (SEW) (http://searchenginewatch NULL.com/3632505). Flickr photo credit: paul goyette (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/pgoyette/235891518/)

Don’t make a sale, make a long-term customer

Posted by ArcherTC on January 26, 2009  |   No Comments »

Establishing ongoing relationships with customers enhances the long-term success of most small companies. It’s more cost-effective and a lot less stressful to serve ongoing accounts than it is to continually search for new business. Cash flows are more stable, and increased operational efficiencies can reduce internal costs, increasing profitability.

To secure a long-term customer, sales personnel need to “look beyond the sale.” They need to form a relationship with the customer, solving all of the customer’s needs and providing ongoing value of products and services.

The basis for establishing such a relationship is to address the five key needs of every customer. These include…Don’t Make a Sale, Make a Long-Term Customer – NFIB.com (http://www NULL.nfib NULL.com/object/IO_39770 NULL.html).

Flickr photo credit: KateMonkey (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/katemonkey/2357244681/)

Going full-time: four things you’ll miss from the day job

Posted by ArcherTC on January 26, 2009  |   No Comments »

For many of us, it’s that moment we’ve been longing for. It’s what we’ve worked towards for months or years. It’s the reason we’ve been coming home from a busy day and freelancing in the evenings, or at the weekends.

Quitting the day job. Going full-time. Striking out on our own. You’re not going to miss the office for a moment … right?

Chances are, you’ll find yourself looking back wistfully on certain occasions. Here are a few things you might be missing, and how you could replace them as a freelancer…Going Full-Time: Four Things You’ll Miss From the Day Job | Freelance Folder (http://freelancefolder NULL.com/going-full-time-four-things-youll-miss-from-the-day-job/).

Flickr photo credit: Vincent Ma (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/thevince/535469198/)

Best Rank’s list of SEO, SMM & keyword research tools

Posted by ArcherTC on January 26, 2009  |   No Comments »

…a mix of some of the most popular and comprehensive search marketing tools that both Best Rank and other 3rd party websites offer. Each tool is organized into logical sections so that you can understand each main section at a time:

via SEO Tools – Search Engine Optimization – PPC – Keyword Research | Best Rank (http://www NULL.bestrank NULL.com/tools).

Companies from Mars, customers from Venus

Posted by ArcherTC on January 24, 2009  |   No Comments »

Companies too often hinder their own success by focusing too narrowly on selling products and not on what their customers actually need, says Dev Patnaik, a business strategist. Businesses could be more successful — and see competitive opportunities faster than their rivals — if they looked differently at what they were doing.

Mr. Patnaik, founder and chief executive of Jump Associates, a firm in San Mateo, Calif., that advises companies on growth strategies, and a part-time professor at Stanford, has written a book, Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/gp/product/013714234X?ie=UTF8&tag=archcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=013714234X), scheduled for release this month.

Saturday Interview – Companies From Mars, Customers From Venus – NYTimes.com (http://www NULL.nytimes NULL.com/2009/01/24/business/24interview NULL.html). Flickr photo credit: Melork (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/patrob/2320283831/)

Making a do-gooder’s business model work

Posted by ArcherTC on January 23, 2009  |   No Comments »

Blake Mycoskie, a former contestant on The Amazing Race, explains how he can give away a pair of shoes for every pair his company sells

The Entrepreneur: Blake Mycoskie, 32

Background: A self-described serial entrepreneur and inveterate traveler, Mycoskie’s ventures have ranged from a laundry service for college students to a reality-TV network. In 2001 he was a contestant on the CBS (CBS) television show The Amazing Race (he finished third). In January 2006, Mycoskie traveled to Argentina to learn how to play polo, practice tango, and do some community service work. While there, he was struck by the country’s health and poverty problems and discovered that numerous children did not have proper footwear. Soon after, he came up with the idea to create a shoe for the U.S. market based on the traditional Argentine alpargata—a slip-on in lightweight fabrics and vibrant colors and prints. He envisioned a company that operated in a way that helped others while offering something unique for the consumer. …read more at BusinessWeek (http://cli NULL.gs/jDeUHP). Photo credit: TomsShoes.com (http://www NULL.tomsshoes NULL.com/)

Six ways to get people to say “yes”

Posted by ArcherTC on January 22, 2009  |   No Comments »

In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert B. Cialdini, a respected social scientist and specialist in the area of compliance psychology, says that “… automatic, stereotyped behavior is prevalent in much of human action …”

He cites an experiment by Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer, where you can see this concept in action. Langer approached people waiting in line to use a copy machine and asked, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” About 60% said “yes.”

Under similar circumstances, she did the same thing, but instead asked, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?” In this case, an overwhelming 93% said “yes.”

What happened to increase the “yes” response so dramatically? …read more at Copyblogger (http://cli NULL.gs/WeeXdr). Flickr photo credit: It’sGreg (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/itsgreg/707054525/).

Selling the experience: the quest for a constituent-centric nonprofit

Posted by ArcherTC on January 22, 2009  |   No Comments »

Companies like JetBlue, Starbucks, and Apple don’t sell just a product or service; they sell an experience. So, what does this have to do with nonprofits? I would argue that some nonprofits do a pretty good job of packaging “experience” with what they do. Heifer, Save the Children, and Kiva do a pretty decent job of connecting donors directly to recipients, using online tools for donors to view pictures and stories of the people they are directly supporting. I would also argue in this communications-hyped world, your nonprofits’ actions speak louder than words.

How well is your nonprofit doing at creating a superior constituent experience? According to market research firm Forrester Research, there are three areas to look at …read more at Idealware (http://cli NULL.gs/NavJzT). Flickr photo credit: Brande Jackson (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/brandejackson/2598190309/).

Podcast: improving your cold calling results

Posted by ArcherTC on January 21, 2009  |   No Comments »

StartupNation talks to Mari Anne Vanella about how to improve your cold calling techniques and how to get better results. Her company, The Vanella Group, is an outsourcing telesales firm serving the high-tech industry based in Silicon Valley. She’s compiled and analyzed data from 10s of thousands of cold calls and has come up with “42 Rules of Cold Calling Executives,” which she’s distilled into a simple little book by the same name. …more from Startup Nation (http://cli NULL.gs/vqrJn9). Flickr photo credit: Smithcam (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/jack79_mi/423095294/)

  • The ArcherTC Blog aggregates resources, tips, and news for ArcherTC clients and interested others. We welcome the submissions of related articles and photography by professionals working with similar communities as well as feedback for improving this site as a resource.