OMG...the coffee pot broke!

The worst thing that could possibly happen has occurred....my coffee pot broke. Since I no longer live in a major metro area where they sell coffee on each corner, I was forced to do things the hard way. Boiling the water and coffee, then pouring it through a strainer just to get my caffine fix. Talk about a pain. It did serve to remind me that there is always more than one solution to any problem. Just because we, as a society, tend to rely on the freshest technology, does not mean that we should give up when that technology does not get us the desired results.

Yes, it is much easier to wait for someone to click on an ad to get that next sale, but there is something to be said for the reward we receive when we have actually earned the sale. A good example is networking and the amount of time and energy that goes into it. Networking is the oldest trick of the trade and will never become obsolete. All it takes is one contact that leads to a HUGE sale and you are off an running. For professionals and businesses alike, the best networking source out there today actually uses the freshest of technologies. I'm talking about www.LinkedIn.com. With in days of being networked I had made my first contact and it has grown ever since.

No matter what your marketing strategy is, make sure you network as much as possible. I talk to people where ever I go. For those of you that are more reserved and are not the consumate salesperson, then try the various networking sites out there. It will pay off.

Industry?! My business defies the boundries!

Why is it that when we get a great idea and decide to bring it to the table in the form of a new business, we are forced to pick a target industry? Yes there will always be those products or services that will only ever be used by a specific group, but for the most part it all crosses the board if one applies a little creative thinking.

I know what you are going to say and that is "We target our audiences to get our message in the right hands that, eventually and hopefully, will lead to a sale". The difference is that a company should not target their audience but a specific audience... and then move on to the next. You want to have a consistant theme behind all of your marketing and advertising and simply tweek each piece for a particular demographic. You wouldn't take the same approach selling to a mother of 3 as you would a Spanish owned and operated small business. Not only will your message not be heard but the chances of offending one or both audiences is too great.

I know that as a typical business owner, I do not understand the intricacies of each demographic group out there. What I do know is that I WILL NOT attempt to target a group until I do understand the best approach and how to meet their needs. It's a constant learning experience that if you, as a business owner, are not willing to take on ..then your business will never know it's full potential.

Who me? A Publisher?

When I started looking at the various products and services that our firm would offer, I always knew that with-in a few years we would need a print publication to help drive traffic to our website. It never occurred to me that we start with an eMagazine. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it would be the perfect way for us to help educate small business owners and entreprenuers. Unlike blogging, this more traditional medium has the potential to be a huge money maker for our firm as well. By starting it online, we will be able to sign up subscribers, use it as a give away and make the transition to a physical piece, with advertisers, once we had the subscriber base. It is also a great tool for us to use to keep our name in front of existing customers (because let's face it... retention is much cheaper than acqusition).

Once the decision was made, I had to figure out what to do about content. I knew that I would not be able to write an entire magazine every month and we couldn't afford to hire writers in the beginning. That is when I realized that, again, I was not using all of my resources. I hooked up with Susie Hale (Publisher of Frog Pond http://www.frogpond.com/) and struck a deal where I can utilize her huge database of articles as content. Now I am confident that our first issue is going to be a huge success and am looking forward to seeing our first release in June.

This is simply one more weapon in our branding arsenal, but no less important than the media kits, websites and ads we intend to run. They all work together to get our name out their and educate our target audience about how we can provide the best solution for them.

Aspire to be DIFFERENT....

Marshall Mcluhan, Canadian Communications Theorist, stated that "Ideally, advertising aims at the goal of a programmed harmony among all human impulses and aspirations and endeavors. Using handicraft methods, it stretches out toward the ultimate electronic goal of a collective consciousness."

All the Masses....

I was in the garden this morning having my 5th cup of coffee while contemplating new ways to reach the masses. Having an active imagination does not always lend a helping hand and I was seriously struggling with finding that one "GREAT" idea that would ensure a new product launch taking off. As the coffee began to take hold, so did an idea - or at least the beginnings of one, I thought about the up coming summer and all of the street fairs in NY, SF and other metro areas and the hundred's of thousands of visitors that come through by the end of each day. What would give me the most IMPACT for my money? What will it take to get them to remember us the next day? What is the goal of the promotion? Why that target audience? What is the appropriate apporach for that audience? .... These are the questions I started ask myself. I knew that I had a good start, by simply recognizing the potential of having a presence at that particular type of venue. Now is the need form a detailed attack plan. Remember that a company or product launch needs to carefully and fully thought out. It is worth the extra time it takes before going after that first sell, but not only will it give you an apropriate launch while giving you maximum exposure, it helps you learn how to build a strong company or brand because it will help you learn some very important information that all companies must learn if they hope to be successfull. That is ... who their customers actually are, how they will need to be approached, what is the cost to acually reach them, why they need a detailed budget from day one, and much more.

The stronger the marketing plan / strategy, the more effective you will be at reaching and closing a larger percentage of your customer base.

These are things that I have to remind myself of on a daily basis. With my focus strong, I am able to strategically plan my launch and give Ardynn Media a fighting chance.

Why are we so emotional?

I love it when people ask about the role emotions play in marketing., because the first thing I ask of them is to think of their favorite brand and tell me why it's their favorite brand. The typical answer usually starts with things like "it tastes good" or maybe "they provide amazing service" - but after drilling down I discover that at some point they always come back to a marketing piece that evoked a much needed emotion. By much needed, I mean that it struck a cord with someone when they were maybe feeling depressed and watching a particular message gave then hope.

That is the goal that every marketing piece needs and must aspire to....emotions play a significant role in virtually every aspect of our lives, so those of us in the industry need to tape into those emotions.

What I don't understand are those that know this, tend to lose sight of that fact at some point in their career and then ask themselves what has happened.

Small businesses probably need to be evoking emotion more than any large business that has loyalty and name recognition behind them. It is a curtical aspect of building a brand.

Where has creativity gone?

When I started my first business almost 20 years ago, the internet was a newborn and computer programs were cluncky at best. I had no idea how to go about marketing and advertising with a non-existent budget so I looked around for a comparible solution. Since I could not afford graphic design help, I went down to the phone company in Manhattan and filled the backseat of a cab with phone books. After many trips up 3 flights of stairs I proceeded to cut out individual words and images to create my first flyer. What took me 2 days of work can now be done in a matter of minutes - but I was proud of my creative approach to the problem.

But why is it that more new business ventures don't use the same creative thinking? Has the internet and all of its godly powers corrupted us into thinking that by dragging images into a template we can create an effective marketing campaign? What about those tried and true methods of marketing like billboards and flyers? Or the truly original magazine ad?

When will we learn that there must always be a balance between our efforts if we want our businesses to not only survive but be propelled into the next stratosphere.