Archives for October 2008

Blogging is Green and Sustainable Marketing

Next week a few thousand green industry professionals will converge in Louisville, Kentucky to hear me speak on blogging and social media marketing.  O.K., they may not all be coming to hear me speak, but at the very least they will be converging and will have that opportunity.  If they realized the power of blogging and social media marketing for their business, and how it works organically..something they should have a good handle on….well, they might just want to learn more. 

Here's how it works.  Most things that grow organically are also sustainable, too, just as long as they get the required care and feeding.  In that sense, blogging is a lot like gardening.  You can grow whatever you want.  You just need specific goals, a little discipline for achieving them, and the right tools and know-how.  That's where I come in.  My speaking specialties are sales and marketing, and these days, blogging, micro-blogging and social media marketing happen to be the right marketing choices for most businesses – large or small.  The reason for this is they are amazingly effective for building, strengthening and protecting a market niche — and for a very small investment of time and money.  All you really need is some creativity, the tools and know-how, and the time to put it all into action.

Traditional direct marketing methods, such as postcards and email campaigns, in addition to good old face-to-face selling, are great ways to jump start your business right now.  The problem is you have to get up tomorrow and do it all over again.  These methods are effective and necessary, but their effects can often be short-lived.  If you think about most of your marketing efforts, they don't last very long.  You may place an ad in the hopes some people see it.   Then you hope that a few of them will actually take action so that the both of you can realize a benefit.  Oh, but you have a website that you say is your sustainable presence on the Web.  Are you sure?  The problem is the search engines don't like passive websites like yours and mine.  They like change!  People like change, too!  Hmm….could this be an insight.   Nicely done.  You now know that the ongoing changes you make to your blog also help to optimize it for the search engines.  This gets you noticed.  And that can help you grow your business.

Let's face it, blogging is the future of marketing right now.  Blogging is real and sustainable marketing that organically grows over time.   You just need to have a purpose for your blogging that supports your company's mission or purpose.  Then start planting those seeds.  Of course, you'll want to fertilize those seeds.  That's where Social Media Marketing comes in.  Social Media Marketing is the fertilizer that connects your blog messages to the people that can benefit from the products and services your company provides.  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and many more Social Media Marketing and Networking sites put the face of your business on the Web.  That face connects with people.  It connects needs with people that have solutions for those needs.  Blogging and Social Median Marketing makes you familiar.  Familiarity leads to trust.  All you have to do is tell your story.  Be original!  Tell a story about someone that benefits from a business relationship with you.  Congratulations!  You've just planted a seed that will make your business come alive – and continue to grow with it. 

If you read my blog regularly, you know I try to keep it interesting by framing my message in the context of a popular movie that most people will recognize.  This week I'm making an exception by instead using a very nice film created by PLANET – The Professional Landcare Network – to promote the Green Industry Conference (GIC) this coming week. It's a huge gathering of like-minded professionals that work every day to sustain the environment we all enjoy.  I'm looking forward to helping them build sustainable marketing practices at a couple of sessions, but especially with my program Saturday morning, October 25th entitled: Get Real! Launch Your Blog Now

 

Shakin' It Here Boss – Internet Marketing 101

If you are a Paul Newman fan, you undoubtedly recognize this post on growing your business acknowledges the passing of one of the great guys in film.  The words "shakin' it here boss," were of course used by Paul Newman in In the film Cool Hand Luke.  In this 1967 film about Luke (Paul Newman) and the other prisoners on the chain gang, if you needed to take a bio break you went into the ditch where you would frequently shake a branch of the willowy shrubs and and yell out "shakin' it here boss."  This accomplished a couple of things (beyond that bio break).  One, the boss knew you were still there and had not run off.  And two, he knew you were exactly right there! — so he wouldn't mistake you for an animal moving around in the brush and shoot you.  That will keep you on your toes!  And don't forget the Charmin.

Here's the point.  This is a lot like Marketing where you have to make some noise to get noticed.  If you think of your customer or prospect as "the boss", then you understand where I'm going with this.  Your customers like to know what you are up to.  They really do.  We call this communication.  If they don't hear from you every now and then, they forget about you.  You won't get shot, but you may lose them as a customer, which is pretty much the same thing today.   The key is it doesn't have to be complicated.  That's one the beauty of Internet Marketing as compared to traditional marketing.  You have the means of quickly communicating a message through such methods as blogging, social media marketing, and micro-blogging. As long as you keep shakin' it, your business will continue to grow and you'll remain relevant.  That's the formula:  Have a simple, relevant message, and get the word out about it frequently. 

Now, to take this analogy with Cool Hand Luke further, let's continue the story.  Well, Luke decided at one point that he had had about enough and was going to escape.  So, on this particular trip into the ditch he brings a long stretch of string that he ties to the branch of the shrub he is using as cover.  Just for good measure he yells out one or two times — "shakin' it here boss" — then proceeds to run off, all the while shaking the branch with that string as he gets a head start on the boss.  It works because the boss has an expectation about that shaking branch.  In markets, there are expectations too.  If you are just meeting expectations, you may be alright, as some expectations are good.  Then again, do you want your business to just be alright or do you want more?  You can use your Internet Marketing to shake things up — to stay ahead of the game.  That's something you also have to clearly understand.  With Internet Marketing it is so easy to be copied.  Yes, people will "borrow" your ideas.  You can try to fight it, but that seldom works and takes too much effort.  Better to just continue to raise the bar and you'll get noticed even more.  Position your company in unique ways that demonstrate you are on top of your game.  Lead the market.  And to paraphrase a line from the movie…..now that's a real cool hand!

Finally, if you'll be at the Green Industry Conference later this month in Louisville, Ky, I'll be presenting a session on Blogging and Social Media Marketing on Saturday October 25th at 9:30 a.m.  Come and learn more – especially if you are a green industry professional.

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