Marketing Mistakes Even McDonalds Can Make : Be Visible

I was pleasantly suprised when I got off my bus and across the street (out of the corner of my eye) I saw a McDonald's roach coach. What made this roach coach even more fantastic is the word "FREE" on the side. I love free. So I saunter on over, grab my breakfast burrito and hang out for a moment. A few observations:

1. The direction people were walking was such as no one could even see them. All they needed was a way to direct people's attention...even a sandwhich board would have done quite nicely.
   
2. The majority of the traffic in the area was either getting on or coming off the ferry. Had they moved their operation to the entrance of the ferry terminal, their reach would have been much greater.
3. A lady yelling (in a seemingly angry manner) "free food!" out of the side of a truck is not the best attention getting device.
   

So, the moral of the story? Free food = a tasty treat for a lucky few. Free food + recipients of said food = effective marketing.

The Tale of a New Business Owner: Rob Christianson, Designer & Illustrator

I'd like to introduce Rob Christianson, a talented designer and illustrator. He recently decided to make the leap to being one of the great self-employed. Rob and I worked together at Media Partners and we came to discover a mutual enjoyment of silly, geeky humor. I would also come to learn over the three years we collaborated that he's enthusiastic, disciplined and talented. That all adds up to a perfect recipe for success, if you ask me. Here's the advice he is giving to other n0obs:

1. What is your biggest challenge since you decided to "go it alone"?

The biggest challenge has been finding a balance between pursuing new job contacts and spending time working on the projects I already have lined up, particularly the large "seemingly-endless" ones. If I only concentrate on bringing in new work, the bills don't get paid. If I only focus on my current projects, I'm damming up the stream of new work coming in.

2. What's the most rewarding part of being an independent?

Definitely being able to set my own schedule. Some days are longer than others, but it definitely gives me the freedom to schedule time off accordingly, especially concerning time spent with my family. Choosing my preferred projects has also really been a blessing.

3. What do you do to market yourself and what would you say is most effective?

Redesigning a website and keeping it updated, establish a strong social-networking presence through tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, JacketFlap and other sites (where I can build an interested following both generally and specifically within the publishing industry) and making personal connections whenever possible. Most importantly, be nice and not fake. People smell a fake from miles away.

4. What sorts of business administration tools do you use to make your life easier as a small business owner?

I use FreshBooks for keeping track of time spent on projects, client records, estimates, invoicing and more. It's a great tool, inexpensive, and easily accessible because it's hosted online. We've also started using MailChimp a bit - it seems easier to use than our previous Email Marketing provider.

5. What advice would you give other people considering "making the leap"?

Definitely explore if it's the right time and place to do so. I was laid off from my day job when I made the choice to go it alone as a freelancer, but with my family's support (VERY important) and personal faith that I'm making the right decision (the MOST important), I took the leap during a downtime in the national economic climate. Also, realize that you'll be spending a lot more time than you used to at a day-job just establishing yourself, so get the word out and network, network, NETWORK! The sooner you establish a prospective client-base, the easier that transition will be. A lot of prayer never hurts either. ;)

Try Not to Bug Your Customers when Marketing

I know, I know, this seems like a no-brainer, but it's so easy to get out of hand.

Once you have your business all set up, your mass email marketing templates crafted, your Facebook business account started and your focused Twitter accounts ready to go, it's hard not to want to jump all over the people you know like an enthusiastic puppy.

Some important things to remember:

• You don't have any customers. Unless you've purchased a working business, the people you're pinging, harassing, and advertising to are your friends and family. If you're careful they'll support you and pass along the word. If you're not, they might love you, but they will eventually tune you out. Just like when you were a whiny teenager.


• Start Slowly. Taking time to do test cases when you first start is a smart way to build your business. Share with your friends and family first (sparingly), then branch out slowly to other methods of marketing. This will allow you to deliver the level of service that you had intended.


• Let Your Customers Boss You Around. You have no idea which products will take off. What you might think is awesome might not resonate with your customer. Be flexible and let your customer tell you what they want. They'll make sure you're successful, if you let them.


• Spread the Love Around. Be sure to fill out your inventory. Whether that is blog postings, business listings, physical product, or virtual product, you'll want to have something to offer people coming to your site. You don't want your first customers to be disappointed customers.

A Link-Tastic Article on Crowdsourcing for Business

I was inspired by this article in the New York Times about crowdsourcing. They mention Wikipedia and Linux, two semi-non-profit type organizations. I was curious how businesses owners can and have made it work for them.

First, to define: "Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production model. Problems are broadcast to an unknown group of solvers in the form of an open call for solutions." Wikipedia

Seth Godin talks about a "tribe" or a group of people who are excited about your product and want to connect (not sure how to create a tribe? Start a blog, get on twitter, engage in person). Why not use that group of people already listening to you and see what they'd like to see.

Here are a few popular examples of for-profit businesses using the concept of crowdsourcing:

• Apple - Oh the iPhone. Any shmo can make an app. It's juried for quality, and apple uses the pure VOLUME of applications created as an incredible marketing campaign to basically say to the consumer "Our phone can do anything". Thank goodness these guys have a huge fantanic customer base because they are pimping those apps out without so much as a credit.
  
• Threadless - A retail T-shirt company that allows you to vote on T-shirts submitted by users just like you. At the end, the company has new product, and the user feels connected to the product. The trick here is that it's regulated by the company to reduce the overall "crap factor".
  
• iStockPhoto - A retail stock photo company, started by a collection of graphic designers desperate for affordable stock photography, users submit their photos to a Gallery that can be purchased by other users. There is a juried process to ensure quality, so once again the "crap factor" is reduced tremendously.
• YouTube - Free online videos...the content created by the users to be watched by the users. This unfortunately has little to no regulation which basically increases their overall volume of content but does nothing to assure quality outside of companies patrolling for copyright infringement or the occasional decency remove. High "crap factor".

So, what can we learn from these crowdsourcing examples?

1. You can make money crowdsourcing (also interesting).
   
2. You need to regulate the masses. There's a reason the government doesn't let us vote.
3. Some of your users are super-duper smart.
   
4. When you're marketing, or creating products, talk the people who are really going to buying your product. They know what they want.
   

4 Small Business questions to ask your Web Designer

Making a new website can be an exciting and scary proposition. There are a lot of people that do "web design" and very few who are actual professionals. I've taken the liberty to list a few common questions that I've heard before and a few that I should hear more often. Chime in, if you think I'm missing anything.

1. What role did you play in the sites you've shown me?
   Everyone posts sites they've "worked" on but often times they don't go into detail about what they actually did for each project. This is key to finding out if they were the project manager, the actual designer, or just someone who scheduled the client meetings
2. Are you a designer, a developer, or both?
   Be aware of your contractor's limitations. All to often a developer will "design" a site and low and behold, it'll look like an engineer puked all over your domain. And sometimes, when a designer acts as a "developer" you can be presented with an image that will impress and amaze, but the sub-par technical implementation will lead to future costs.
3. Are you (or is the developer you're working with) WC3 certified?
   Making sure your developer/designer is WC3 certified is like making sure your car will only need a paint job in the future instead of an engine overhaul. One will cost you a couple of hundred bucks and the other will cost you thousands. (A Key: in this example, your site is the car, the programming is the engine, and your design is the paint job).
4. Will I be able to edit the site myself?
   You'll want this (also known as a content management system). You're designer will want this too. Having your vendor charge you a quarter hour's worth of work so you can revise that sentence to have an apostrophe on it will get old really fast. Some designers work with a content management system, but if they don't, refer them to cushycms.com. It will cost a little extra to implement, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

TIP: Your website does not generally include a logo design. You logo design is also known as your corporate identity and should be considered independently from your website. Consult your designer on their pricing for your corporate identity.

Beginner's Social Media: An Interview with Jen Joyce at Hotel Max

When I started tweeting, it was primarily for job hunting purposes. When I was digging around for connections for the company RedFin.com, Jen Joyce from Hotel Max (@hotel_max) replied, ready and willing to put in the good word. Due to a charming misunderstanding (they have a restaurant called Red Fin), I've been following her ever since. Anyone willing to help out a job searcher was alright in my book.

I had the pleasure to meet Jen as the host of her very own tweetup at the funk-a-delic Hotel Max. The turnout was impressive, like, free sushi impressive. I wondered what went into creative a successful tweetup and how she ended up doing what she was doing. She was gracious enough to do a short interview with me and offered up some advice for those small businesses looking to get into the social media scene.

What do you do for Hotel Max?

I am the Sales Account Manager which in a nutshell means I book the Entertainment Market (bands that need hotel rooms), handle all group and corporate account details before they check in and while they are in house, and I also handle the Hotel Max's Social Media. So basically, I love my job!

Which social media outlets do you use and why?

We currently use Twitter, of course, Facebook and Flickr. We find these 3 outlets allow us to connect with our fans, potential guests and those that have never heard of us. Twitter is for real-time conversations; Facebook helps us aggregate all of our info (i.e. reviews, photos, etc.) and Flickr is a great way to show off our hotel through room/lobby photos!

What would you say are the most the most effective campaigns?

Twitter has been the most effective as it has allowed us to create relationships with our guests/fans. We've been able to create brand evangelists by staying connected to these folks and offering them special discounts, giveaways, great music and info about our great hotel and city.

How do you measure campaign success?

We measure success by a number of different metrics. The number of clicks on our Twitter links, traffic to our website, revenue, engagement (@replies and DMs).

How do you collaborate with the rest of the Hotel Max marketing staff?

I work with Dina from our corporate office, Provenance, on marketing initiatives, as well as the rest of the hotel staff to find interesting information (i.e. Red Fin, GM, front desk, etc).

How would you recommend small business get started in social media?

Start slow. Create a personal account to help understand the different technologies and think about how you could apply it to your business. You must also be active. You can't create an account and then forget about it; you must be social in order to get any results. The more you put into social media, generally the more you get out of it.

Seattle! SEM Resumes, please!

I'd be interested in what it takes to be Seattle's finest! Send me your SEM focused resume and I'll send you an I Heart Bacon pin. That's right. It's hard to pass up, I know. Just give in to it. Do eet.

This seems to be a popular topic to search for on my site so I figured I'd give the people what they ask for. I'll be posting the best examples here for other job seekers to learn from. Don't you want to help the jobless people? DON'T YOU?

What do you need to do?

1. Send me your resume (mailto:maureen@iheartiheart.com
2. Use the subject line "I heart bacon"
3. Tell me if you're employed.
   
4. Tell me where to send the "I heart bacon" pin.

I fully expect there is not going to be ONE resume that comes my way, but I figured I'd throw it out there. What do you have to lose?