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Web/Social Media
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Written by Matt Handal
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A couple things recently came up about social media return on investment (ROI). First, I was asked to submit a piece on return on investment for a social media book coming out. When I saw the example the author had on the subject, I was taken aback. It had no mention on the firm's investment and no real data about their return on said investment. Then I was asked whether I was interested in doing a social media return on investment presentation for AEC firms. My initial thought was I would only want to do it to keep people from getting bad information. I decided against it because I have not done enough work in the social media ROI area. It would be a bit hypocritical of me at this juncture to claim to be an expert in this area.
But I did come across a presentation that would knock the socks off anything I would do (see embedded presentation below). For your subscribed folks, here is the link http://www.slideshare.net/thebrandbuilder/olivier-blanchard-basics-of-social-media-roi The short version is this. The only return on your investment in social media is revenue or increased efficiency (which reduces operating costs). That's it. Therefore, you have to prove that your "social media" activities are doing one of those two things.
You can't measure ROI with retweets, website visitors, "brand recognition," or any of that. That is just foolishness.
A lot of people may claim that tracking revenue or increased efficiency from social media is impossible. My philosophy/belief is that every dollar you make can be tracked back to something. It's not impossible.
This presentation goes into much more detail about how to measure your social media return on investment. I hope you find value in it. I know I did. |
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Web/Social Media
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Written by Matt Handal
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There is a lot of buzz about social media and its application for marketing. It seems to be a topic nearly every chapter of organizations like the Society for Marketing Professional Services are having events about. And you will hear a lot of commonly held truths in these events. Unfortunately, many of them are straight up lies. Let's look at some of these lies in greater detail and you'll see what I mean.
The Definition of Social Media is a LieThis may sound crazy, but hear me out. Has anyone truly defined what social media is? I haven't seen anyone clearly define it.
Let's look at some definitions of social media:
- "Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques." (Wikipedia)
OK, that sort of makes sense, right? But that's assuming you don’t understand a few definitions
- Media: "a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or expression;" (Webster's Dictionary)
Let's look at the definition again.
- "Social media is (a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or expression) designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible (dissemination) techniques that (have the ability to grow)."
What falls under this definition?
Ever attend a webinar? That's dissemination through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. By definition, a webinar is social media. I bet when you think of social media, you don't think of webinars.
How about a web forum? Medium -check. Dissemination - check. Social interaction - check. Highly accessible and scalable - check. So a web forum is social media too.
What if I was to walk over to Philadelphia city hall, stand on the steps and make a grand speech or hold a town hall meeting with the crowd of passers by? Is that social media by definition? I think you could argue that it is.
How about something like a blog? Maybe some of them. But not popular blogs like Seth Godin's. There is no comment feature on his blog, so there is no social interaction going on there. By definition, Seth Godin's blog is not social media.
Who coined this phrase anyway? Google doesn't even know.
The truth is that when people talk about social media, there are talking about several different clearly defined things, including social networking sites (like Linkedin and Facebook), video sharing sites (like YouTube), blogs, and microblogging services (like Twitter or even Google Wave).
But very often they fail to mention social news sites (like Digg and Reddit.com), photo sharing sites (like flickr and Snapfish), collaborative creation tools (like wikis and Google Docs) and even location based services (like Foursquare and Gowalla). All of which clearly fall under the so-called definition of social media.
The reason you don’t hear much about these things is that - It is perceived that people don't use these sites for business.
- Most "social media gurus" and preachers don't actively use these sites.
- Including these sites would make the discussion of "social media" too broad .
- Well, you can't cover all that in an hour presentation.
By definition, so many sites and services are "social media" that you might as well just say "the Internet."
But the "Internet" cannot be productized and sold to businesses as a solution to their marketing woes. "Social Media" is a concept that has been productized and sold by so-called social media experts as that elixir. It's the new snake oil. The term social media is in itself a lie. It is just a term people use to get you to buy their services. And chances are, you may have fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
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Marketing 101
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Written by Matt Handal
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Research is just one of those activities that most marketers don't like doing. But many will agree it is also one of the most critical marketing tasks.
Maybe research gets a bad rap. Let's not think about research as simply crunching numbers, there is a purpose to it. If you are not basing your marketing activities on research, you are basing them on luck. Luck works sometimes, but it's not going to give you consistent results.
One of the challenges with research is that marketers often approach it the wrong way.
Many marketers either perform too little or too much research. Some perform marketing research without any idea of why they are doing it and what they are going to do with the data they collect. This approach will only lead to frustration and wasted time. Others track large amounts of data that they never use. Finding the right balance is important.
Unfortunately, AEC firms lag behind other industries when it comes to research. For example, the pharmaceutical industry does a significant amount of market research and leverages it using it's sales force. When a pharmaceutical sales rep walks into your doctor's office, they know exactly how many of their pills and their competitor's pills your doctor prescribes, almost in real-time. But many marketers in our industry will walk into a potential client's office with little to no research they can leverage to get someone to buy their services. Like any marketing activity, research needs to be planned and conducted with a clear objective in mind. The purpose of research is to answer the following five questions:
- What services did/does my firm provide to clients?
- What services can my firm provide to clients?
- What are our strengths/weaknesses
- What business opportunities are out there for us?
- How do clients procure our services?
Whether you are a marketing coordinator, chief marketing officer, or CEO. Being able to answer these questions will be critical to your success. To some, this may sound like strategic planning, but it's not. These are questions that have answers, it's just a matter of finding them (A.k.a Research). Let's look at these questions in more detail. What services did/does my firm provide to clients?Most marketers walking into a AEC firms for the first time realize that there is a lot to learn about the business. But if you are moving to a new firm from a firm with similar services, it's easy to feel like you already have a handle on this topic. But chances are you don't. As a marketer, you need to understand your firm's history of providing services. You need to have a thorough understanding of what they did and who they did it for. You need to be able to "tell the story of your firm." This is not a research task that will take you hours. Most likely, it will take you days or months before you have the understanding of your firm's history needed to do this. When I first interviewed for the firm I work for now, the Marketing Director at the time walked me through the office, introduced me to the engineers, told me all about the history of the engineering firm, and how they work with "as-builts." I only asked one question: "If this is an engineering firm, where are all the drawings?" "Oh, we are not that kind of engineering firm," she said. To her, an as-built was a schedule. To me, it was a drawing. Even the most seasoned marketer can sometimes have trouble explaining what exactly their firms do. To start your research in this area, designate specific time to read through all your firms marketing materials, proposals, qualification packages, databases, etc. Sit down with project managers and senior professionals and ask to hear the stories behind the assignments. You need to be capable of teaching a college level course on your firm and what they've done. Another important area of research is to look at your firm's project history from a revenue perspective. What sectors, services, or clients bring in the most or best revenue? Some accounting systems will be able to spit this information out for you. But even if yours doesn't, you can easily put a spreadsheet together of projects and what your firm billed on them. Then it's just a matter of connecting marketing information (services, client, sector) to the billings spreadsheet. I suggest starting by evaluating one, three, or five year periods. If you talk to the staff you can even add information like the origin of each project. Then you can assess what activities bring in revenue. This information can prove useful when you determine which activities you should concentrate your efforts on. I worked with a senior business developer who had an impressive resume and decades of relevant industry experience under his belt. But after a year at my firm, it was clear that he still did not have a solid understanding of what exactly we did. His excuse was, "Well, I've only been here a year." Unfortunately for him, having been at a firm a year is not the time to be learning it, it is the time to know it. He was ultimately let go. I can't stress enough the importance of developing a strong and complete understanding of what your firm does/did. What services can my firm provide?There is sometimes a big difference between what a firm can do and what a firm does. This can become an area of great risk or great reward for a firm. For example, I worked for a mechanical/electrical/plumbing designer who told a large state university that they could manage one of their construction projects. While it seemed like a good idea at the time, nobody in the office had substantial construction management expertise and the project quickly turned into a disaster. The client wasn't happy and it's safe to assume they will never use that firm again. However, It doesn't always turn out bad. When you can make an honest assessment of what your firm or office can do vs what it does, you can often tap into unrealized revenue streams. An example is a consulting firm that was asked to provide an assessment of procurement practices in a whistleblower case. While this wasn't the firm's "bread and butter," they had the people with the specific skill-set to perform this task successfully. Once you understand what your firm does, delve deeper into the staff's professional history, technical skills, and resources to learn what they can do. A firm's potential is tied closely to it's staff. If you were working for me, your first day would consist of calling each and every staff member in each and every office to introduce yourself and learn more about them. Learning about the technical staff is important enough to be a day one activity. What are your firm's strengths/weaknesses?When I started working for a commercial real estate company, one of the first tasks I was given was to call our competitors and ask them about our firm. So, i sat down at the phone for close to two days and did exactly that. The point of this exercise was to determine our firm's strengths and weaknesses as seen by our competitors. Strengths and weaknesses are perceptions. You may think you have the most detailed and accurate drawings, but if the perception is that you don't, it's more of a weakness than a strength. You have to reach outside your doors to truly understand your firms strengths and weaknesses. Many AEC firms would never dare to do this. But one very successful executive I know took this approach to a new level. Upon being asked to head up a national design practice, she flew around the country, sitting down with direct competitors, freely sharing information and ideas. She learned much more about the market sector and her practice then she ever would have inside the comfort and bubble of her internal team. Client surveys are another great source of information. Unfortunately, many firms choose either not to conduct them, only survey the "happy" clients, or conduct the surveys through internal project managers. Not conducting client surveys is a mistake because not only are you missing a great opportunity to gain valuable client feedback, you are losing the opportunity to mold perceptions in your favor. If you only survey the happy customers, you are creating a perception of reality that might not exist. It's important not to lose sight of reality, even when that reality is not as pleasant as you would like. Because many clients might hesitate to be honest and hurtful to your face, an outside service is one of the best ways to conduct a client survey. I worked with a project manager that all the clients loved. After he left the firm to start his own business, we had an outside consultant conduct a survey of our clients. What we found is that while clients liked this guy's personality, they hated his performance and lack of responsiveness. Even years later, in a thriving economy i heard that office shrunk to half it's size and had to move to a much smaller office space. Poor client service, and more importantly negative client perceptions can be devastating to an AEC firm. This type of research is sadly not very common. Many firms fail to really find out what their strengths and weaknesses are. Unfortunately, to their own detriment. What business opportunities are out there for us?This is the most obvious area of marketing research. Marketers are always on the look out for new business opportunities. Research in this area can include looking for request for proposals (rfp) or leads from lead services. Marketers who chase work with government agencies will find the most use of these services. Some of the more affordable examples include: - Www.govcb.com
- Www.fedbizopps.gov
- Www.stateandfederalbids.com
You can also find rfps published in local and regional newspapers. Many times government institutions like public universities are required to publish rfp announcements in the local newspaper. Many people argue that if the rfp is "on the street" (i.e. publicly available), it is too late to develop a winning proposal or team. I don't necessarily agree with that, having been successful winning contracts in this manner across the country. Therefore, I recommend using lead services. But I advise that you use them wisely. This means forwarding relevant rfps to your contacts and having some clear go/no go guidelines to stop you from going after assignments you simply have no shot of winning. This leads into the next area for opportunity research, news and gossip. If you are specifically targeting a public agency or corporate client, you'll need to do research into the company or agency goings on. Sometimes you can get information from people in your professional network (this will be more thoroughly explained later). I also suggest setting up a google alert that searches the web and emails you the latest developments of the company or agency. You can set up a google alert at www.google.com/alert The web in general is a great source of research data. If you spend just a little time honing your search engine skills, there is a wealth of information available at your fingertips. How do clients procure our services?Many people believe that clients, especially government agencies procure work through open and fair procurement. This is simply not true. That's why it's so important to learn how a client procures your services. Large corporations will often have a rotating stable of consultants they go to. Whether you win work may have more to do with if it's "your turn" than the quality of your proposal. On the government side of things, you have to consider how time consuming and costly open procurement is. Many agencies find ways around open procurement. Public agencies have awarded contracts worth millions without openly bidding them. While all of this is true, there are still more than a few procurements out there that are open and fair. For some, like me, it's often hard to accept the dual nature of procurement. I expressed this uneasiness one time in an exit interview. I explained to my boss, the Senior Vice President, how disillusioned I was after submitting what I , to this day, consider the worst proposal ever. Sloppy was not the word for it, it was simply and utterly atrocious. There were mistakes on nearly every page, the worst being I had the wrong spelling of the company's name we were submitting it to. But what was so disillusioning about it wasn't the quality of the proposal, it was that we had won. And the amount of work was not insignificant. What was the purpose of my job if the quality of my work did not influence the outcome? "Well, that guy owed me a favor," my boss explained. It can be hard to come to grips with the dual nature of procurement. And I can't help to see myself in less seasoned marketers who find themselves faced with this harsh reality. It's natural to assume things should be fair. When dealing with government agencies, you also have to research their procurement process. For example, You will need to be pre-qualified with many agencies before you can work with them. Sometimes you need to be pre-qualified to even learn about agency rfps. If you get your hands on an rfp, you may not have enough time to go through the pre-qualification process before the proposal is due. Therefore, it is important to understand each agencies pre-qualification process and do what needs to be done before you should have done it. Conclusion There you have it. You can conduct AEC market research that you can be proud of by just simply answering a few key questions. Are there any other market research questions you should answer? Leave a comment with yours!
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Marketing 101
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Written by Ida Cheinman
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For an organization of any size, its brand is one of its most critical business assets. Yet, while the word “branding” officially has entered the buzzwords category, the strategic and systematic act of branding is often overlooked. Organizations fail to make it a part of their business strategy, and therefore they are unable to take full advantage of what an effective brand can do for the success of their business. Why invest time and resources to develop a solid brand? - It helps you become a leader in your market, it keeps you on your customers’ radar, and it makes you the #1 choice when purchasing decisions are being made. It puts you in control.
- A strong brand makes it easy for your customers to buy. Customer indifference means a never-ending uphill battle to have your customers select you over your competitors. Customer loyalty means more streamlined communications and business development efforts and shorter sales cycles.
- If employees feel indifferent about the organization they work for, they are not motivated to do better and they are not committed to stay long term. A strong brand helps you hire and retain the best talent.
Strong brands are sustainable; they are for the long haul. It’s important to remember that branding and brand management is an ongoing process, not a quick fix. So how do you create a brand that realizes your organization’s full potential? The answer is in doing your homework. Step 1: Strategy First Your brand is instrumental to your organization’s success, and therefore your brand strategy should clearly align with your business strategy. If you understand your business, creating your brand, its values, its personality and its position comes naturally. Homework: What do you do best? A clear focus will position you to appeal to more, and the right, people – we all know that you can’t be good at everything. Define what you are great at (not “good” – “great”) and build your brand and marketing strategy around those core capabilities. Step 2: Focus and Relevance Being very clear and focused about your audience is also critical. The narrower your focus, the easier it is to have a meaningful conversation and build a stronger connection with your most qualified audiences. Take the time to learn about what motivates your audiences and what’s important to them. Homework: Is your brand relevant to the very narrow target audience that you are trying to reach? Does your message appeal to the right people? Or is it too broad, diluted and unfocused? Identify the exact solution you bring to your audiences and where your product or service can be positioned as the only solution – then build your message around that. Now, that’s compelling! Step 3: Brand Platform By starting with a solid brand platform that describes what your brand stands for, its personality and its unique position, you define the desired perception of your brand for your audiences. The brand platform includes: Brand promise. The pledge you make to your customers about the experience they will have by doing business with you. Brand values. Every business decision related to your brand should align with its values. The brand values are the code by which your brand lives. Every day. Brand personality. Like a person, your brand must have unique and defining characteristics that compel your audiences to get to know you and build a lasting relationship with your organization. Brand positioning. This is the space that you want to own in your audience’s mind. If you’ve done your homework for steps 1 and 2, then you already know what it is about your offer that motivates your audiences to take action. Your brand position is about clearly communicating this competitive advantage to your core target audience in a way that makes it clear that there’s no brand but yours that can satisfy their needs. Homework: What promise are you making to your audiences? Does your positioning set you apart? Do your brand values and your personality resonate well with those you are trying to reach; do they help cultivate loyalty and lasting relationships? And this is critical: Is all of the above clearly and consistently communicated at every audience touchpoint, making it easy to differentiate your brand from the rest of the pack? Step 4: Compelling Brand Story Everybody likes a good story. Stories are entertaining, inspiring, engaging and, above all, human; they connect people to people and organizations to their prospective and existing customers and employees. Homework: Every company has a story. This is not your elevator speech; this is a story of who you are, what you do and, most importantly, why it matters. What is your culture? What attracts customers and employees to your organization and why do they stay? What’s your story? Step 5: Unparalleled Brand Experience Your audiences experience your business through your brand. A strong brand, properly and consistently executed across all applications and media, leaves positive impressions at every audience touchpoint. These individual experiences form a perception of your brand in the marketplace and become your organization’s reputation. Homework: Does your brand experience measure up? Put yourself in the driver’s seat and experience your website, your marketing collateral, your reception area, your outgoing voice mail message. How do you feel? Impressed? Motivated? Disappointed?
Ida Cheinman is Principal & Creative Director of Substance151 – a Baltimore-based brand design + strategy firm specializing in branding and marketing communications for the professional services industries. She can be reached at
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Web/Social Media
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Written by Matt Handal
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Is providing website code that doesn’t validate to W3C standards really a web designer red flag? That’s a question that a reader recently asked me in response to my article in SMPS Marketer.
The Question:I guess I don’t really understand what you’re getting at. You pointed out that not being W3C compliant is one of your Red Flags, but you admit that very few sites actually are compliant. So why the red flag? I will admit, this is probably a bit too technical for me, but I guess I’m asking why you would even include this point as a major “red flag” in your magazine piece if most sites disregard its relevance.
My Response:It’s a red flag from the perspective of managing your risk.
Let me give you an example, I had a custom contact database website developed for my firm. I made some pretty strict requirements about it working with multiple server platforms and browsers (not always an easy task). Since I hired the developer through Elance, I didn’t have the proper time to really beta test the system. After a few months, I realized it was still a little buggy when using internet explorer.
I fixed it by simply throwing the CSS code into a program that rewrote it to be W3C compliant. I replaced that one file and now it works perfectly. Looking back, if I had just required the code to validate to W3C standards, I wouldn’t have even have had to worry about problems like that. So that red flag came about as a lessons learned from my experience coordinating the development of that site.
I recently developed a spec for a new Trauner Consulting site. In that spec, despite knowing a bit about code, I specified W3C compliance. Both HelpEverybodyEveryday.com and ConstructionNetcast.com started out as W3C compliant. What broke the compliance was my sloppy text.
I don’t think serious developers disregard w3c. Don’t take my opinion as gospel. Google “importance of w3c” and look at what other people are saying about the subject.
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Management
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Written by U. N. Owen
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This post may seem a little off topic, but keep with me.
I've been driving now for 18 years. Not once have I been pulled over for speeding. Is that because I don't speed? No, I speed all the time. Is it because I'm lucky? Probably not. Do I simply outrun the fuzz in my Saturn? Heck no!
Then how have I eluded the police for so long? The answer relates not only to avoiding the cops, but also to marketing, business, and life. Here is the three step process that I used to solve this problem.
- Identify what the problem is
- Find a qualified individual who has solved this problem
- Do what they do
Sounds simple because it is. Back in high school I went up to and asked a local cop, "How do I avoid getting pulled over?"
He said, "It is simple, never be the fastest driver in sight."
So that's what I did for the last 17 years. I always drive slower than somebody I can see. Whether I'm driving 26, 58, or 72mph, there is always someone in my sights driving faster. Using this simple system, that problem has been solved, I don't have to worry or think about getting pulled over ever again.
Have a problem in marketing, business, or life? Guess what, somebody else has had this problem, solved it, and written the solution down. All you have to do is copy what they did. It is that simple.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This post was written by contributor U.N. Owen.
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Marketing 101
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Written by Matt Handal
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A while back, I asked the SMPS roundtable which press release service was the best to use. I also asked whether these services were better than sending out press releases yourself. Joan Capelin of Capelin Communications (and the author of the SMPS Handbook chapter on this subject) responded with this answer. It is certainly worth repeating:
"Matt: Let me answer your question with another: Why rely on services - however excellent -- that do not focus on our industry and its shifting, dwindling number of print pages available? FYI, none do - the formidable PR Newswire and Business Wire included.
How long IS a press list that carries this industry's news? Not long enough to use a service's scatter-shot approach. Send out to the healthcare circuit, and you'll be sending your story to people concerned about their health, even though you wanted to reach a publication focused on hospital administration or the design of alzheimers residences.
Yes, some correctly-targeted places will carry it, and then the aggregator blogs will pick up the news that others have published [I'm sure illegally, by ignoring copyrights]. That gives the illusion that something wonderful has happened.
If someone doing publicity in-house can't pull together his/her own press list, then I counsel them to hire people who understand how this works - and what to do BEFORE AND AFTER the release is distributed, crucial strategy that your question evades.
But to answer you: We occasionally use PR Newswire when our clients request it. We have our own a/c, even if they have one. Even those that have an a/c often ask us to use ours instead, don't know why.
We otherwise spend the fortune that Cision costs to be sure that we are completely up to date in our information about available media, and then we first get started with our research. And since we are in regular touch with the media, we can fine-tune a release and press list to specific editors - which is the best way.
You know as well as anyone that no design or construction firm has the time, resources, or interest to maintain its own list well. Further, one of the "green" editors to whom I spoke recently told me that he puts firms on his spam list if they send him a release that doesn't apply. Arrogance or efficiency? You tell me. The point is that the firms never knew this happened, or were too innocent in the first place to anticipate this.
For an industry that will never move without consultants - engineers, conservators, LEED, soils, archeology, law, accounting, whatever - why they wouldn't think to go to a reputable, strategy-oriented public relations consultant to help them reach their goals for visibility and credibility eludes me.
Some of this is spelled out in the chapter that I authored in the brand-new SMPS handbook, where you also contributed a chapter. Anyone can call or e-mail me for further information.
Best of luck in your query.
Joan Capelin
Capelin Communications
212/779-4949
jcapelin(at)capelin.com"
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Relationship Marketing
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Written by Matt Handal
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It's not what you know it's who you know. But very few people feel comfortable talking to strangers. In fact I remember mom and dad telling me something about strangers...not to talk to them.
But over time, that tune changes. In business we are told to schmooze to network. But do you find networking at an event or conference terribly uncomfortable?
That because networking is too much work.
If you are like me, you try to find the easiest way from point A to point B. The common term for this is "lazy."
So what if you, like me, are lazy? Can the lazy excel at networking? I believe they can.
I'm going to share with you three lazy networking tools that, if used, will take you from a networking nobody to a networking All Star. So get your pens out or print this page out and keep it in your back pocket.
1. The Texas Two StepThis is a simple formula you can use to start and maintain a conversation with anyone. The beauty of this formula is that you don't have to have anything in common or anything to say to these people for it to work. And using this tool, you can literally maintain a conversation forever. here is how it works.
Step one: Ask an open ended question. "open ended" means it doesn't have a yes or no answer.
(try "what brings you out to this lovely event?")
Step Two: Make a statement about what the person said.
("oh, you are a board member, I've never been on a board.)
Start over: Ask another open ended question. It can be random or a follow up question.
(What made you decide to join the board?)
Then make a statement about what the person said
Rinse and repeat. Don't worry after doing this with a couple people, you will see how easy it is.
2. MirroringThe next tool is built on a simple premise. We like ourselves. We like people who look like us, sound like us, and act like us. What you are going to do is copy their movement, their posture, the tone and volume of their voice. But start by copying their stance.
if you are talking to someone who has their arms folded, fold your arms. If they put their hands in their pockets, put your hands in your pockets. Be their mirror.
But Matt, it's going to be obvious that I'm mirroring this person. Here is the kicker, nobody ever realizes you are doing it. Go back and try this with people at work. You'll be amazed. You'll notice that we naturally mirror people we have a good rapport with. So, by mirroring, you are artificially making people feel like they have a good rapport with you.
3. GiftingOne of the seven habits of highly effective people is "think with the end in mind." So as soon as you start talking to someone, you need to start thinking about how you are going to get away from that person. That's where gifting comes in. Ask yourself, "What can you give this person that they would find valuable?" It can be an article, a book, an introduction to someone you know, a baseball cap, whatever.
This is how you are going to end your conversation. Explain why you must leave, then promise them a gift asking for thier contact information.
("I see some other people I need to talk to. But if you have your contact information, I'll send you a great article I read about serving on a board. ")
When you get back to the office, Google yourself up a nice article about being on a board and send it to your new contact.
("Here is that article I told you about!")
Be sure to send your gift. By sending the gift, you are showing that you keep your promises. Making and keeping promises is very important in the world of relationships.
By using the Texas Two Step, Mirroring, and Gifting, your next networking event will be so easy that you will swear you are cheating. And don't worry, you are cheating!
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Marketing 101
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Written by Matt Handal
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Mary, a marketing manager, recently posted a question to the SMPS listserv. Her question was as follows:
I am looking for a way to compare a company's total annual Marketing costs that includes everything: marketing staff cost for labor and expenses, technical staff labor and expense cost for both business development and proposals, and the marketing budget with an industry standard. We have reviewed the Zweig White industry numbers for total marketing costs as a percentage of net revenue. However, because these numbers are not based on comparable costs across companies they do not provide a true comparison. Does anyone know of an industry standard such as total marketing cost as a percentage of net revenue that is based on comparable standard costs? If so, please advise and many thanks.
Mary
Scott Braley of Braleyconsulting always has something insightful to say. Here is his response.
--------------------------------- We are happy to share specific numbers and trends we see in the industry. The "not based on comparable costs across companies" begs a question that I believe is best discussed by phone. Specifically, what comparable costs do you wish to compare.
As with all surveys, the data is based on question asked. There are multiple sources of data (SMPS, ZW, PSMJ, AIA, ACEC, our own data, your own data, etc.).
So, willing do discuss with you or others who wish. Beyond specific questions, we find the various surveys good for their published purposes.
On a "recommendation" note .... our experience, both as practitioner (group leader, lead marketer, managing principal of international firm) and as management/marketing consultant (full time since 97/98) the key is year-over-year benchmarking and performance management using your own numbers. What others spend in this context fringes on "entertainment" unless/until your expenditures create a differentiator (positive or negative) for your firm.
Public surveys are useful in sanity checks, as well as negotiating or decision leverage (e.g., we should start/stop this behavior because we are well out of line with the general trends of the industry). We have found this particularly helpful when a recalcitrant individual within a firm simply will not listen to internal logic or arguments regarding marketing/bd costs.
Public survey referencing has a downside. When you benchmark to means and medians, you run the risk of becoming an "average" firm.
Finally, three key factors should not be overlooked. First, performance management is the key. It makes little difference what others do so long as your are performing well. Two, the counter-intuitive fact is that as the market tightens and competition rises, investment in marketing costs (increase) may be exactly what produces desired results. Third, mathematic benchmarks and ratios get skewed when other factors change as the market changes (e.g., staff reductions which are necessary and warranted will in and of themselves change the marketing $/staff ratio, reducing a fee just to get work to cover overhead/keep staff with in and of itself change the $/revenue ratio, public sector work with prescribed/predictable overhead allowances and profit margins will in and of itself change the marketing expenditures as % of overhead and revenue ratios, etc.).
Glad to help, just give us a call if/as you wish.
Regards, Scott
Bernie Siben, of Siben Consult LLC, responded: ------------------------------------------- All of what Scott Braley said about marketing costs is right on the money (no pun intended).
The only thought I have to add regarding "comparable costs across companies" is the following: it is a very interesting concept, but it pre-supposes that there are multiple companies that are EXACTLY alike, operating in EXACTLY the same manner, with EXACTLY the same goals and attitudes.
Does this exist in real life - no.
If some other firm is spending significantly more or less than you are, they will probably have their reasons, but those reasons probably have to do with strategic decisions, which they may be comfortable sharing with another firm. I think, as Scott said, if you are doing well, if your costs seem reasonable and the ROI is good, be happy and don't obsess over what some other firm may be doing.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Warmest regards,
Bernie Siben, CPSM
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Proposal Development
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Written by Matt Handal
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Each RFP you see will give you instruction on what is to be in your proposal. Sometimes it will ask for what's called a "management plan."
This can sometimes trip technical writers up, but writing a management plan isn't really that hard. In fact, once you get used to writing them, you may end up feeling like a management plan should appear in all your proposals.
The management plan does not describe what you are going to do. That's typically called the technical approach or the scope of work. It is also not a summary. That is usually more appropriately located in an executive summary or letter.
A management plan describes how you are going to go about doing your work. For example, here is a brief management plan for the cleaning of my house.
My wife Molly acts as the project manager of our house cleaning. Each week, she will assess the situation and determine the right time to clean. Next she holds a meeting where she communicates to the team that it's time to clean. She then delegates tasks to the appropriate party (For example, she will assign Matt to clean the toilet). If a task is beyond the technical capacity of her team (like fixing the door), she will reach out to a trusted group of subconsultants (our handyman). As tasks are being accomplished,
Molly will perform a QA/QC spot check to see if the work is being performed up to the appropriate standards. If the work does not meet her stringent guidelines, she will work with the team member to remedy the situation.
After cleaning is done, she meets with the team in a lessons learned session and discusses the success/challenges of each task and what lessons we can take away for future cleanings."
Now that is a fairly simple example of a management plan. It might be a little more complicated if you are proposing to build, say, a nuclear power plant. But essentially the idea is the same.
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Relationship Marketing
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Written by Matt Handal
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Someone asked me a question today.
"Do you have a system you recommend or have written about regarding how to keep track or make contact with contacts? I am having difficulty coming up with a system to manage my contacts. "
I'm probably not the best person to answer this question. I don't have a system I recommend. But I can certainly explain my own personal system for keeping up with contacts.
I think the main fallacy with this idea of keeping up with your contacts is that you can treat all contacts equally. I don't think you can.
Tim Klabunde says, "You have to network with everybody, but you also have to focus your networking efforts.".
What this means is you can't give everyone who gives you a card the same amount of your time and attention.
The HitlistTim recommends, and I use, what's known as a hitlist (Tim may have learned this concept from Ford Harding, who learned it from someone during his research on rainmakers, who learned it from someone, who read it in the Dead Sea Scrolls). What I'm saying is it's a pretty time-honored technique.
The hitlist (by my definition) is a list of 10-15 people that either 1. Can introduce you to clients or 2. Are potential clents (this includes past clients that may rehire you).
The goal is to "ping" these 10-15 contacts on a monthly basis. A ping is an exchange with this person. It could be a phone call, a lunch, a text message, a direct tweet, or a smoke signal. It's advantagous to use this opportunity to give your contact something of value.
For some reason, no CRM system I have ever seen has an integrated hit list feature. Don't get me started on that!
I put my hitlist in Evernote. I review it on a monthly basis. I have a "tag" (category) in Evernote called "Focus." As I explained before, this is the area where I capture lists I review to maintain my focus.
I do my very best (some months better than others) to ping these 10-15 people at least once a month. And I really focus on giving my contacts something of value.
There is a But
But, my list actually has 30 people on it. in addition to my list of potential clients and connectors, I have a list of 15 people that are most important to my professional success. This list includes administrators, CEOs, direct reports, editors, mentors, etc.
So I am pinging 30 people a month. With 40 hours of other work to do, I'm not sure your average professional can do much more.
Obviously there are other people I interact with everyday. But my hitlist keeps me focused on those who I have decided are most important.
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Productivity
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Written by Matt Handal
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A while back I was emailed this question:
"What do you recommend for contact management software? I'm on a Mac, and I am the entire marketing dept, so i don't need anything really fancy. I use Entourage and was hoping to connect my contact software with email and Blackberry."
Here is what i said.
My personal "workflow" incorporates Windows, Mac, iPhone, and the web. But I think it’s a good one. It really revolves around Outlook on Windows. But i have my three computers and my iPhone all working with the same information.
Here is what I would suggest for you. My core advice is ditch the blackberry, if possible. If you ditch the Blackberry then you can get an iPhone. The iPhone has better email management and reading capabilities. In addition, your Mac will sync mail, contacts, and calendars with the iPhone. If you wanted push email, iPhone will do it through Apple’s MobileMe service or free through Yahoo Mail. You can get incoming mail from multiple sources, and choose which account to send outgoing mail from.
Here is what I do with my contacts on the Mac that I think is the bees knees. I put people pictures in their address book contact. Then when I go to a function, I flip through my category for that association/group and remind myself what people look like. That's a lifesaver! I'm terrible with names.
The one thing that sucks with Mac are tasks. (On Windows) I use outlook, a special plug-in for tasks, and a (on my Mac) website called Toodledo. They sync together and with my iPhone. But I would suggest you use Omnifocus. That will integrate with your Mac and the iPhone.
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/ In addition, I recommend Evernote for notes. That syncs with Windows, Mac, and iPhone. If you have something you want to read later, it goes into Evernote and then you can read it on the iPhone. http://www.evernote.com
I hate when people say "Get rid of this" or "stop doing this." It sounds smug. But I've done a lot of research on this problem. And I want you to have a set up that makes life easier. If you can't get rid of the Blackberry, use missing sync. You will have to plug in or use Bluetooth sync (not over the internet like iPhone). And I don't think that will help you sync your entourage mail items and having multiple email systems is a pain. http://www.markspace.com/products/blackberry/blackberry-sync-Mac-software.html Hope that helps. my solution is "fancy" but its going to save you time and money in the long run.
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Marketing 101
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Written by Matt Handal
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Here's a question I was recently asked.
"Matt, what's your personal brand?"
Let me think about that. What does my box say when you pick it off the shelf at the grocery store?
Most of us don't go through the day thinking about our personal brand. But the books tell me everyone has one. And books wouldn't lie. So what's my personal brand?
A personal brand is really a measurement of how people perceive you. And that can get a little speculative. Unfortunately, trying to figure out what people think of you is usually a futile exercise in mental telepathy.
So how do you develop your personal brand, if you don't know what it is? That's simple, just be what you want people to think about you. Your personal brand is all about perception. And fortunately, or unfortunately, perception and reality are often two different things.
Let me give you a story about expert personal branding. When I was 17, I worked as a Boy Scout camp counselor. Believe it or not, I taught wilderness survival, including how to make fire by rubbing two sticks together. There was one camper who stood out among the camp counselors and other campers. He was a kindly British boy who was filled with sharp British wit and displayed nothing but the most proper British manners. This was quite a departure from your typical Mountain Dew slugging, booger eating, knee scraping camper. And I guess that's why everyone was so fond of him. Or maybe it was that everyone was enamored because he was from what seemed to us as a far off world.
One day I was helping one of the other scouts. And this scout told me something that surprised me. The British kid was not British at all. He was from Maryland. And he just spoke with a British accent so people would like him. And this little charade was working perfectly on everyone he met, including me. This kid knew that when it comes to your personal brand, you can go a long way towards molding other people's perceptions of you.
But that doesn't answer the question of what MY personal brand is. My personal brand really depends on how you know me. My sense is people know me most through my writing, either reading it or working with me to create it, or even using it in something they produce. If you work with me, or talk to me, or read me, you probably get the sense that I'm a little weird. But as someone said on behalf of me when I was interviewing for my current job, "Matt is weird, but weird in a good way."
I like to think that's my personal brand. What's yours?
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Web/Social Media
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Written by Matt Handal
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The December 2009 issue of SMPS Marketer includes my latest article. The article is entitled 10 Web Designer Red Flags (That Nobody Warned You About). SMPS Marketer is a publication available to members of the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS.org). They are kind enough to let me host it here for our lovely Help Everybody Everyday readership. You can download a pdf copy of the article here: https://www.helpeverybodyeveryday.com/downloads/webdesignerredflags.pdf I wrote this article after a SMPS member asked me to look at a proposal she received from a web designer. I didn't like what I saw. Much of this article is lifted directly from my email response to her. Another portion of this article stems from my talks with several web designers who tried to BS me over the phone, assuming i knew little to nothing about web design, web hosting, and server technologies. Web design is a moving target because the technologies and methods change so rapidly. While this article may anger more than a few web designers, they will know its accurate to the letter. If you ever have a challenge or topic that you would like me to address, just send me an email, hit me up on twitter (http://www.twitter.com/matthandal), or give me a call. I'll be glad to help.
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Relationship Marketing
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Written by Matt Handal
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 I meet a fair amount of fellow marketers and I have found out something interesting about them. They are shockingly bad at followup. They go to networking events and give out/collect business cards. But they rarely will ever follow up with you after that initial encounter. If you follow up by sending them an email, 9 out of 10 will not respond. If you call them, they often won't answer and most likely they won't return your call. I've called marketers for the express purpose of giving them work, never to receive a return phone call. I've emailed (and emailed) CMOs and never received any response. Then a month later I get a call from their technical staff who want to piggyback on our proposal (because they can't win without us). When I call the technical staff, do they return my call? Yes. Do they return every one of my emails? Yes. I often find it much easier to get a hold of the firm's Principal than to get a hold of its CMO or Marketing Director. If you are that one marketer out of every ten that follows up after a meeting; the one out of every ten that returns phone calls; the one out of every ten that returns an email; my guess is you are worlds above most marketers in terms of performance. For people who stress the importance of relationships, marketers often forget that relationships are in a constant state of decay. If you don't nurture them, they will die on the vine.
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Relationship Marketing
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Written by Matt Handal
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Tim Klabunde was doing a SMPS webinar on networking like an introvert. In preperation for this, he asked me if I was an introvert or an extrovert. It's hard to answer that question yourself. So I asked my coworkers and my wife thier opinion. I think my wife said it best when she said, "You are an introvert unless you are interested in the topic or person." There are several technical terms for this. One of them is "jerk." The one I like to use is "focused." I think everybody has a little introvert in them. Clearly, some more than others. But being an introvert or an extrovert shouldn't stop you from completing a task, networking, or anything else. You simply need to use these tendencies to your advantage. Later that day I tweeted, "I'm not an extrovert, I just play one for a living." From the response, it seems a lot of marketers feel the same way.
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