Are You Making Something?

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by world-renowned marketing expert and best-selling author Seth Godin. It’s a short, but intriguing, essay about work and what is required to create lasting value, often short- and long-term objectives of the product development and marketing functions.
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Making something is work. Let's define work, for a moment, as something you create that has a lasting value in the market.

Twenty years ago, my friend Jill discovered Tetris. Unfortunately, she was working on her Ph.D. thesis at the time. On any given day the attention she spent on the game felt right to her. It was a choice, and she made it. It was more fun to move blocks than it was to write her thesis. Day by day this adds up... she wasted so much time that she had to stay in school and pay for another six months to finish her doctorate.

Two weeks ago, I took a five-hour plane ride. That's enough time for me to get a huge amount of productive writing done. Instead, I turned on the wifi connection and accomplished precisely no new measurable work between New York and Los Angeles.

More and more, we're finding it easy to get engaged with activities that feel like work, but aren't. I can appear just as engaged (and probably enjoy some of the same endorphins) when I beat someone in Words With Friends as I do when I'm writing the chapter for a new book. The challenge is that the pleasure from winning a game fades fast, but writing a book contributes to readers (and to me) for years to come.

One reason for this confusion is that we're often using precisely the same device to do our work as we are to distract ourselves from our work. The distractions come along with the productivity. The boss (and even our honest selves) would probably freak out if we took hours of ping pong breaks while at the office, but spending the same amount of time engaged with others online is easier to rationalize. Hence this proposal:

The Two-Device Solution
Simple but bold: Only use your computer for work. Real work. The work of making something.

Have a second device, perhaps an iPad, and use it for games, web commenting, online shopping, networking... anything that doesn't directly create valued output (no need to have an argument here about which is which, which is work and which is not... draw a line, any line, and separate the two of them. If you don't like the results from that line, draw a new line).

Now, when you pick up the iPad, you can say to yourself, "break time." And if you find yourself taking a lot of that break time, you've just learned something important. Go, make something. We need it!

Copyright © 2011 Seth Godin. All Rights Reserved.

Professional Networking Site LinkedIn Hits 100 Million Member Milestone, Preps For IPO

As LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional online network, rapidly closes in on its eighth birthday in May of this year (almost a lifetime for Web-based businesses these days!), the company just surpassed another major, and even more spectacular, milestone yesterday: the 100 million member mark.

Interestingly enough, more than 50% of the company's members come from outside the United States, with one-quarter alone based in Europe (20+ million) and the United Kingdom (5+ million). Nearly 10%, or just over 9 million, are in India. Overall, LinkedIn has members in over 200 countries and territories.

The diversity and accelerated growth in membership are impressive, and certainly represent attractive qualities as the company races toward its highly-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) in 2012. Another big sign of growth? LinkedIn started off 2011 with nearly 1,000 full-time employees located all around the globe, up from around 500 at the beginning of 2010.

To commemorate the membership milestone, LinkedIn produced the following infographic which details interesting membership figures and demographics. Check it out by clicking on the image for a larger view:

Keep your eye on LinkedIn over the next 12 months as it prepares to go public. The company has been introducing features and services left and right for companies and individual professionals, and it promises even more to come. And as Facebook continues to focus more on consumers than businesses, LinkedIn may become the de facto social media outlet for companies of all sizes.

Take Your Time To Develop Your Brand

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Deborah Shane, an author, entrepreneur, radio host and expert, that first appeared in Small Business Trends. Shane is a well-respected author, entrepreneur, radio host, and marketing expert who writes for several national business, career, and marketing blogs and Websites. In this interesting commentary, Shane asserts that that the branding process...for any company...is a steady one which only gathers momentum and awareness over time. Find out why...
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Does your brand splash around and do cannonballs off the side of the pool, or do you dive straight in and swim with a smooth, steady stroke? Rome wasn’t built in a day and your personal brand, reputation or business brand can’t be, either.

Trying to rush it, bombard people with it and be too much in people’s faces is not going to make them notice you faster or get them to buy more consistently. In fact, think about all the emails and newsletters that you now block, delete and unsubscribe to. People tell me all the time they are only following and getting emails from people and companies that really connect with them and provide them with timely information they want and need.

There are some really great professionals and companies who I like and admire, but I just don’t want daily emails (and sometimes it’s two or three a day). Those relentless reminders, repeated offers, re-framed messages, reminders about offers ending, multiple articles just posted on their sites, and so forth really turn me off. Probably turn you off, too.

What’s the best practice here and does this help or hinder brand development and recognition?

Just when I think I’ve gotten through all of them, another slew of them downloads into my browser. I am really exhausted trying to keep up. Aren’t you?

More and more people I am speaking to are putting new boundaries on emails and email marketing. We know how important and effective email marketing, is but how often and for what reason do we need to be sending email marketing messages?

I am on my social platforms a few times per day; post two to three blog articles weekly; and write for several other business, career and marketing sites. I also try to send a dedicated, purposeful email out to my permission-based email list once per week; about every two months I send out a themed newsletter.

So, how much more do I need to do to be out there to grow my brand and authority?

I believe it’s the consistency of your activity, the length and content of your messages, and finding just the right frequency that develops a brand organically over time. Brands should meander with purpose to where they are being naturally led.

No need to rush it or bombard people with your brand. Let it unfold, be consistent and “go with the flow.”

© Copyright 2003-2011. Small Business Trends LLC. All rights reserved.

The Evolution And History Of Social Media: Another Timeline

At CMAC, we love history, timelines, and infographics. So why not combine the best of all worlds, especially when it comes to social media? Ask, and you shall receive...as the saying goes.

Beginning with the introduction of the very first social networks, Friendster and MySpace, to the worldwide successes of Facebook, social media marketing campaigns, and Twitter-using celebrities and professional athletes, this amazing infographic from Edelman Digital offers some fascinating statistics and a stunning pictorial of the social media domain and the people in it. Check it out:

Post-Sale Marketing: 10 Ways To Continue Customer Conversations

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Eric Groves, senior vice president of Constant Contact, which first appeared on AmEx OPEN Forum. Constant Contact helps small organizations grow their businesses by building stronger customer relationships via easy-to-use, affordable communications tools that engage casual customers, members, prospects, and passionate customers. In this excellent piece, Groves explains several important ways for firms to enhance their relationships with their respective customers AFTER the sale is over — an often-overlooked, but critical, component of the marketing process.
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For too many small business owners, once a customer leaves your shop or your service is completed, the conversation ends. But it doesn’t need to stop there. If you can continue those threads of dialogue online through e-mail, newsletters, and social media, you have a better chance of building stronger ties to your customer base. This, of course, will lead to repeat business.

The trick is to find the balance between providing your customers with relevant information, while not abusing your online access to them by trying to sell them more “stuff.”

Whether you have infrequent in-person contact with customers or you see them every week — or even every day — the No. 1 rule in moving in-person conversations online is to consistently provide relevant information to the customer that will improve at least one aspect of their lives.

So just how do you connect with those customers and engage them in both the real and virtual worlds? First, you need to get their permission to contact them via e-mail; do that by asking at the point of sale, on your website, on social media, at events -- wherever you interact. Then create content that will engage and help your customers, allowing you to be seen as a partner, not just a vendor.

Engaging customers in more meaningful dialogue that’s focused on them will inevitably lead to longer-term, more profitable customer relationships. If you’re committed to turning today’s business transactions into actually connecting with customers, here are 10 things to keep in mind.

1. Treat the receipt of an e-mail address like a customer pact where you agree that it will never be abused, shared, or taken for granted.

2. Never send unsolicited communications.

3. Always provide free expert advice in your newsletter.

4. Never use the communication as a substitution for advertising.

5. Don’t overstay your welcome: Be brief, be relevant, and be gone.

6. Use compelling, yet not misleading, subject lines to prompt subscribers to open the communication or to follow the online stream.

7. Start a conversation that begins and ends with your customers. Think ‘you, you, you’ and not ‘me, me, me.’ Then point them to an online destination where they can share their thoughts and opinions.

8. Strike a balance in your frequency of communications to gently remind customers of your products and/or services, yet allow enough time in between to actually be missed.

9. Track the readership using tools that provide insight into opt-outs, unopened e-mails and the like to assess the interest of your customers.

10. Provide information that illustrates your expertise that your subscribers don’t already know and can’t easily find elsewhere.

Remember: If you focus on the relationship and engaging customers in meaningful ways, the sales will automatically follow.

© 2011 American Express Company. All rights reserved.

The CMO's Guide To The Social Landscape

In my experience, I have encountered occasions when even the most insightful, experienced marketing professionals, including chief marketing officers (CMOs), are not as up to speed as they should be on certain tactics. Doesn't matter if it's online advertising, viral marketing, direct mail, or search engine optimization (SEO). It's not necessarily because they're not savvy, knowledgeable, or experienced about these strategies. Rather, it's usually because they've only worked in organizations where more traditional approaches were required, or perhaps, they lacked resources (usually financial) to design and execute fully-integrated, comprehensive campaigns...even though the intent to do more was there. In other instances, the dynamics of the organization and industry simply demanded that a limited number of marketing channels be employed to achieve desired results. It happens. No one company can absolutely do everything in the marketing realm; it's virtually impossible.

And this scenario is often found with social media, which leaves many senior executives scratching their heads, particularly about its utility, revenue generation, brand awareness increase ability, return on investment, and the list goes on and on. Typically, they know they should have some sort of program, but they're not sure how to structure it, fund it, or manage it. Much has been written about how to obtain buy-in on these initiatives from the C-suite, so I won't cover that ground again here.

However, what I will present today is one of the most comprehensive guides I've ever seen that spells out, in very clear terms, exactly which social media platforms should be used to create certain marketing outcomes. For the C-suite, it doesn't get any better than this.

Check out this handy guide, entitled "The CMO's Guide to the Social Landscape," and developed by CMO.com and SEO firm 97th Floor, have created the chart below showing which social networks are best to achieve various organizational, customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing goals. How useful are Facebook and Twitter for SEO purposes? Can Flickr actually drive Website traffic? Is LinkedIn useful for customer communications? If dealing with these questions are part of your day-to-day responsibilities, then you'll definitely want to check this out and then save it.

Make sure to click on the image to view this amazing infographic in PDF format, and then add this to your resource folder. We did!

On-Campus Marketing: Do's and Don’ts For Connecting With Students

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Elizabeth Johnson, assistant editor of My Dog Ate By Blog, a site which focuses on politics, technology, and pop culture issues related to education. In the following piece, Johnson outlines several useful tips for brands interested in connecting with students through on-campus marketing. Annually, Corporate America spends hundreds of millions of dollars interacting with and engaging college students, a highly-influential audience that represents over $300 billion in spending power.
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Students have a wealth of potential when it comes to consumerism. While both high school and college students are sometimes on a limited budget, they also have more of a disposable income. When it comes to getting the attention of students, it helps to know how to properly market to them. You don’t just want to get to campus and start throwing fliers around. While board postings don’t get a lot of attention, there are ways to make sure that your messages are heard. Here are a few do's and don’ts that are helpful to follow when marketing to students on campus.

Do bring food. Students have big appetites that their budgets sometimes don’t allow them to indulge. Even those super skinny girls, who bat their eyes and say they’re dieting, will be drawn to tables with free food. You don’t have to break your marketing budget providing a five-star dinner. Many will be happy to take a look at or even try your product with the promise of a slice of pizza or a bag of chips.

Do know how to utilize fliers. You see them everywhere on both college and high school campuses. Students are constantly bombarded with fliers. People stick them on telephone polls or cars, and they are shoved into a students' hands constantly. Why give the students another piece of paper they’re going to throw away? Still, there are ways to use fliers and places to put them that will get their attention. Silly as it sounds, the backs of bathroom stalls are a great place. The janitor might take them down, but students will read them while they're up.

Do understand the needs of the students. It’s offensive to show up on campus with a marketing campaign designed for 45-year-old professionals. While there’s sure to be a few of those on campus, some might even be students; you need to understand who your base is here.

Do get in good with the faculty. If your product is student-specific, especially if you’re marketing a textbook or bookstore, professors might be willing to help you out a little. They might dedicate some time at the beginning of their class to a brief presentation, if you make your case clear and specific enough.

Don’t bother a student while he's trying to get work done. When a student is sitting in the hall with his head down reading a chemistry textbook, don’t go up to him, get his attention, make him look up, and hand him your flier about your product. He’s there to do work and if you bother him while he’s trying to learn, you’re sure to lose at least one potential customer.

Don’t give away free junk. Food is not junk. Food is what a student wants. Unless you want to hand out something a student wants, such as a nice pen or an iTunes gift card, don’t bother distributing anything.

Don’t step on the teachers. If a teacher is kind enough to allow you some class time with his or her students, don’t speak for longer than three to five minutes. Make sure you cater your presentation to the class, and thank the students profusely afterwards.

If you follow these rules, and try your best to be respectful of the campus environment, you might find that students are the most responsive and loyal consumers out there.

Actor Charlie Sheen Joins Twitter; Be Afraid...Be Very Afraid

Simultaneously popular, much-aligned, and personally-troubled actor Charlie Sheen seems to be everywhere these days as he wages his aggressive and very public PR battle in the media with CBS executives the producers of his top-rated show, "Two and a Half Men." Sheen's been a ubiquitous presence on print, online, radio, and TV outlets the past two weeks as he seeks public support to resume production of his sitcom. There's only been one place Sheen hadn't conquered until now: the world of Twitter, but all that's changed, and how.

As widely reported by hundreds of media outlets, Sheen finally joined Twitter on March 1, and he's now tweeting away under the handle @charliesheen. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a big deal, but in joining the popular micro-blogging service, Sheen managed to set a Guinness World Record for being the fastest to reach 1 million followers: just 25 hours, 17 minutes. As of this writing, Sheen how has just over 1.3 million followers.

Of his 21 tweets thus far, most are nonsensical ramblings similar to the content of Sheen's media interviews over the past two weeks. What does this say about the state of the Twitterverse today? Not much, actually.

On the one hand, Sheen's to be commended for seeking an outlet by which he can interact with and engage his fans on a deeper level, as countless other celebrities, pro athletes, and entertainers have. However, as has been noted by many pundits, could this be yet another PR ploy by the actor to keep him in the spotlight as the controversy surrounding his sitcom escalates. Maybe it's both?

In any case, be afraid...be very afraid...and take what Sheen says on Twitter with a grain of salt.