Category: a slice of STRATEGY

Pure, unadulterated strategy: marketing, brand positioning, & entrepreneurial wisdom. New trends with staying power. Old standbys with inarguable value.
What to embrace, what to avoid, and what to attempt — with steady discernment.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Why hibernate?

Posted on by Red Slice

A friend of mine recently commented that your life cycles around metaphorical seasons of growth and change. Sometimes you are in the Spring, where ideas are blossoming, seeds are being planted and animals are poking up their heads as they venture from their winter lairs. For your business, this may mean new product ideas, connecting with potential partners, planning a brand facelift.

Summer is when you’re white hot and sizzling. Everything is firing on all cylinders, you’re in the Zone, things are happening, moving, shaking. Often this means you’re in a bit of a crazy busy flurry of activity as well.

I imagine Fall to be the hravest. Maybe those connections you made at those networking events are finally bearing fruit. Maybe prospects on your email list slowly turn to buyers or clients. Maybe that press pitching you’ve been doing yields to a prime bit of ink.

And then there’s Winter. Things go underground, dormant. Shutters close and we turn inward. We slow down. We unwind. While the snow falls, the tiny perennial seeds buried in the ground take a snooze to gear up for another glorious Spring.

The cycle continues.

I’m going to be taking a few weeks this December myself to reflect on 2012, plan for 2013 and refine my goals and activity. I recommend you do this as well. I’ve blocked out planning days on my calendar for both business planning and content planning. This year has been amazing: new book, new digital course for entrepreneurs, new clients. Now, I need to breathe and take some time to plot the course for 2013.

Without giving yourself the time and space for creative thinking, innovation is just a buzzword and not a part of your brand.

Photo credit: StudioMacbeth.com

How will you recharge and plan for 2013? Please Share in the Comments! One great way would be to check out my new Indie Brand Bootcamp to gain the focus, clarity and confidence you need to make all the right marketing moves this year. Use code LAUNCHSPECIAL for $50 savings. Hurrah!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

5 quick tips to boost sales around the holidays

Posted on by Red Slice

The Bermuda Triangle of holidays is almost upon us: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. It can feel like a vortex into which you get sucked against your will and you can’t control the velocity with which you spin widly out of control – until you get unceremoniously spit out the other end on January 2. Often with jetlag, a hangover and an eye-popping credit card bill.

But the holidays can also be a great time to bolster your brand and connect with your customers and clients. Here are 5 quick tips on how you can leverage the festivities to increase sales and delight your audience.

  1. Give Thanks by Giving Back: Donate a portion of sales during Thanksgiving week to a local charity. Collect coats and gloves for a local shelter. Or gather canned goods to give to your local food bank. This increases traffic to your site, encourages a concentrated week of sales, and presents your brand in a fabulous light – not to mention the amazing good it does for your charitable recipient and your Karma. Approach a charity you love and ask them to partner with you by spreading the word to their mailing list or via social media. And heck, pitch the local paper or news about your event for the Community Events calendar.
  2. Turkey Day Dinner Giveaway: Offer a full-on Thanksgiving Day dinner, with all the trimmings, for 8 people as a prize. People can automatically enter if they buy from you within a certain period of time. Of course, this is for catered fixins….unless you really, REALLY like to cook! You can even partner with a local grocery or specialty food store to increase exposure AND get the items donated.
  3. Give Peace a Chance: Create a wine-tasting event or movie night for your customers and prospects by partnering with a competitor or two. Put aside your competitive spirit and exponentially increase exposure for all your audiences. You can even make this event a charitable giving exercise by asking people to bring a donated item or charge a fee that goes 100% to a cause you both support. You can market this really creatively around “Calling a Truce for the Holidays” or something fun like that.  Make T-shirts or giveaways that say “Team Red Slice” or “Team Whatever” and offer games and prizes for some friendly competition.
  4. Countdown to Christmas: Celebrate the 12 days of Christmas by offering a special promotion each day leading up to it. If you’re a store, highlight one special sale item each day, or offer something unique with purchase. If you’re a service business or big on social media, craft a new holiday-themed inspirational quote or trivia contest to share with your audience. This will delight them and encourage people to keep checking back with you  – in your store, on your blog, or on your Facebook page – to see what you’ve got cooking next.
  5. Glitter and Sparkle: If you own a store, throw in giftwrapping for free. If you sell online, offer free shipping for the month of December. If you’re B2B, incent people to sign contracts for work starting in 2013 prior to December 31, 2012 at a special rate so you can stock your sales pipeline for a very happy new year.

What other holiday or seasonal promotions do you recommend? Any you’d like to promote this year? Please Share in the Comments!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Art of Seduction: 5 Ways to Woo Your Audience with Great Content

Posted on by Red Slice

Today’s marketplace is noisier than ever and customers not only expect, but demand killer value from you even before they spend a dime. (Tweet this!)

But how can you create compelling free content that engages, informs and delight people enough to keep coming back for more – and eventually buy from you?

Special treat for you guys today: I’m sharing this 30-minute info-rich, delightful and useful free video interview with Betsy Talbot, author and co-creator of Married With Luggage. (they are personal friends and I’m a huge fan so check them out and enjoy their resources for entrepreneurs with big dreams!)

Betsy penned an awesome article for Copyblogger about what the male stripper movie Magic Mike can teach you about engaging your audience and giving them what they really want. I just had to take a deeper dive with her on these tips as they relate to your brand strategy.

In this free video, we discuss 5 sizzling tips for getting your audience all hot and bothered.

You’ll learn how to communicate your brand and you’ll also discover copywriting and messaging tips that will create a “love connection” with your fans.

Yes, it’s about 30 minutes. But it’s super useful. trust me. The tips we’ll discuss in the video:

  • Know what you are really selling 
  • Grab their attention 
  • Provide consistently compelling content 
  • Reward loyal fans 
  • Promote new talent 

And PS, there’s a BONUS tip for you: Make the ask. A little extra just to show you how much I love you.

Which tip do you find most useful? How will you apply it to your future content? Please share in the Comments below and share this post/video with your tribe!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

The Art of the Deal

Posted on by Red Slice

Negotiation. Partnership. Bartering. Often, it’s the “people management” part of business that causes the most anxiety and challenges. Last week, I was honored to moderate a CRAVESeattle panel for women entrepreneurs titled The Art of The Deal. We tackled these issues and I wanted to share some key takeaways with you.

Forging Effective Partnerships

When you’re partnering on a project or marketing activity, there are various landmines to avoid. First and foremost, clear communication is key. Discuss up front the roles and responsibilities of each party. Outline who is responsible for what.

In my view, there are 3 areas you need to ensure you map out clearly before getting into bed with each other:

  • Marketing: Who is promoting what to whom? Are we using our email lists, placing ads, posting on social media? Map out how you’re splitting this so there’s no, “I thought you were the one doing that” conversations after the fact. And clearly discuss how you split all costs and expenses so there is no ill will. Attached to this, how will you follow up and split leads after the event or activity? Make sure you are both aligned or your prospects will be left confused and caught in the middle.
  • Operations: Who’s responsible for booking the room, ordering the food or writing the copy? Who is developing the sales page and processing payments? Who’s project managing? Work out all the details before hand, list the tasks and assign an owner.
  • Financials: Money issues can turn a partnership sour faster than anything. Clearly establish your joint budget and how you will split both expenses and incoming revenue. Sometimes 50/50 may not make sense if you’re leveraging one person’s larger mailing list or brand recognition. Have the conversation upfront – trust me, it will be even more painful and awkward later if you don’t.

To Pay or Barter?

Collaboration can take many forms and two ways of bootstrapping your growing business can be either to pay for services rendered or barter. How do you decide? It depends on your budget and what you need. Only barter for things your business really needs. Otherwise, it’s not a good deal and you end up giving away products or services that could be earning you money for something you never needed anyway. Finally, be sure your expectations are clear. When you’re not paying someone for something, that means you fall to the bottom of their priority list. Are you okay with that? Is your timing flexible? If not, it may pay to pay instead.

When you’re on the other end of the barter, you also need to ensure you can commit to giving away your time. Don’t do it if you are crazy busy and it will just leave a bad taste in your mouth. You owe it to the other person to be honest and to only take on work to which you can give your very best – and give it in a way that doesn’t make you bitter or resentful.

Overall, be selective about your chosen collaborators and partners. Make sure you’re both committed to delivering on time and ensure that aligning with this business is not going to impact your brand in a negative way.

Have you effectively partnered, collaborated or bartered with someone? What words of wisdom can you share? Please share below in the Comments!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

The most important person to your business

Posted on by Red Slice

“I’m nobody.”

Recently, I got to witness a fascinating customer service moment. I was at a specialty grocery store in my neighborhood and as I walked up to the check out line, a man was complaining to the cashier. Doesn’t really matter about what. It was something to do with freshness expiration dates on some of the store items, as far as I could tell. The guy was saying he has complained about this many times before. The poor harried cashier tried to assuage him and suggested he speak to the manager about it. The man backed off a bit, knowing this woman did not have the power to help solve the problem and said he’d tried that several times. He wished her a nice day and left.

As I stepped up to the line, I offered her an easy smile to try to salvage her day. She pleasantly greeted me and started checking me out.

“I understand he’s upset, but I can’t do anything for him. Who am I?” she stated to me, partly as a way to acknowledge the awkward situation that had just happened. And then she said something that broke my heart:

 “I’m nobody. I mean, I really. Am. Nobody.”

How messed up is that?

The people on the front lines, those who answer  your phone or check out customers, or take dinner orders  – these people are the most important people in your business. They are the ones – no matter how awesome your product, stellar the service you offer or brilliant you might be as the owner, manager or CEO  – who make or break your brand . They are the face of your business.

The 932 acts of brilliance, quality, blood, sweat, tears, and craftsmanship leading up to that one customer touchpoint don’t matter worth a damn if that one person is not empowered enough to alleviate customer pain, make decisions or enact change.

Do you empower your front line to resolve any customer payment dispute up to $500 (or some other reasonable number) at their own discretion? You should.

Do you listen to him or her when they bring a customer complaint to your attention and do the job you are supposed to do: take ownership and responsibility to resolve the issue yourself, personally? You should.

Do you train them to do whatever it takes to make a customer happy, even if they have to give away something for free or go outside their assigned role to get it done? You should.

There is no business without your customers. And therefore the people dealing directly with them day in and day out need to be treated like the kings and queens of the castle. If you can’t trust them with that much power and discretion, don’t hire them.  You, as the owner, CEO or manager are their servants – not the other way around.

Photo courtesy of http://drlindagalloway.wordpress.com

What is your customer service “hero” story? When did you get such excellent service from the person working the front lines? Please share below in the Comments!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

What marketing is…and is not

Posted on by Red Slice

“I don’t believe in marketing.”

This is what a CEO who has a few successful tech startups under his belt told someone I know. And it made me laugh.

Have you ever told someone sitting next to you on plane what your company does? That’s marketing.

Have you ever pitched a client on the value of your solution? That’s marketing.

Have you ever followed up with an unhappy customer to make things right? That’s marketing.

Too many people believe marketing is simply about placing expensive ads or ordering silly tradeshow tchotchkes that end up sitting in a storage closet somewhere, gathering dust.  They dismiss it because they haven’t seen it done in the right way – and then wonder why they slog to gain traction. “If our sales reps just “sold” better, we wouldn’t be having such a hard time,” they say.

Here’s the deal: Marketing is communication. Communicating the value that your product or service offers to the people who will buy it.

I guess he doesn’t believe in communicating what his company does, why they are different or speaking to a customer’s needs. I suppose people will just see the product or service, instantly understand how it can help them without a word being spoken or read, and say, “Gee, I need that widget now!”

Can you be successful without an official marketing director or an earmarked “marketing budget”? Well, yeah. Businesses do it all the time. But don’t try to tell me your company is not performing marketing.

If they don’t have a marketing function, they normally burden the sales process with performing both sales and marketing at the same time. Marketing is about communication and positioning based on market analysis that ultimately helps a sales rep sell something. Marketing as a function exists to make it easier to sell.

If you have a sales pitch, a product label, or a 50-word company descriptor – those are all elements of marketing. And if you approach it with marketing discipline to create a foundation and maintain clarity and consistency, you can go a lot further than if you reinvent the wheel on the fly each time.

I’m not sure what there is not to believe in about that.

Photo credit: © Royalty-Free/Corbis (PMTips.net)

Ever work with someone who did not “get” the value of marketing? What was that experience like? What is your definition of marketing? Please share in the Comments!

 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

3 powerful tips to fuel your body…and your business

Posted on by Red Slice

What does running your business and nourishing your body have to do with each other? A helluva lot, it turns out.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I embarked on a food transformation. While we both eat fairly healthy, we were still feeling run down in the afternoons, defaulting to poor food choices when tired and generally getting confused by all the conflicting nutrition info that is out there.

Fed up, we called in a big gun: food and body coach Jamie G. Dougherty of Jamie Living. I was introduced to Jamie through not one, but two entrepreneurial women friends as “someone I just had to know.” We met and it was the best blind date ever. With our curly hair and smart mouths, we hit it off like a house on fire.

Fast forward: Jamie is sitting at my dining room table with me and my husband, talking us through our food choices, purging our pantry and giving us the straight talk on what labels really mean and how to incorporate healthy eating without stooping to diet plans with trademarked names. Jamie is about being educated, making intentional choices, finding ways to savor delicious food (she’s a foodie herself) and especially, how to avoid hating yourself. Love your body and fuel it right but if you make a deliberate choice, enjoy the choice and love yourself anyway, is kind of her mantra.

So we started overstocking our fridge with freshness, living without as much processed food as can, cooking meals in bulk to use throughout the week and navigating this whole terrain of “making positive changes: I’ve soaked beans for the first time in my life, rather than popping open a can. We tried kale. I had oatmeal for breakfast. We actually asked if the meat we were buying was hormone-free. I threw away my agave nectar. My husband cut out his daily soy latte….. We’re through the Looking Glass, people!

Now, we have an expanded repertoire of delicious, farm-fresh, some might say gourmet, meals at our disposal. We ate extremely well without counting calories or depriving ourselves.  We instantly felt less tired and run down – able to get through our workouts and busy days and even have fun cooking and planning together as a couple.
I’ve marveled at the lessons that apply to your business as well as your body during this transformation:

  1. Garbage in, Garbage out: Your food really does fuel YOU, the machine. The more crap you put in, the worse you’ll feel and it’s I’m not talking about emotional guilt. It’s about how your body physically performs.  Same thing with your business: you’ve got to surround yourself with cheerleaders, partners and, yes, the right clients and customers so that your business can thrive and your brand can shine the way you want it to. Do you really want people around town saying how that untrustworthy partner you recommended reflect badly on you? Didn’t think so. And side note: when you fuel yourself right, you can think more clearly, perform better and delight customers even more, so it directly impacts your bottom line. You’ve got to bring your best self to work every day because, whether you do or you don’t, it shows up.
  2. A Little Planning Goes a Long Way: The reason processed foods full of chemicals and empty calories are so popular is because they’re easy. It’s why they are called convenience foods, people. But taking some time out to plan your meals and prepare dishes in advance to freeze or have at the ready makes the week a breeze. We’re actually enjoying this as a weekend activity we can do together. One hour of shopping and two hours of cooking sustained us for the entire week (of course, we cooked some things fresh at mealtime but nothing complicated). Your business is like that: if you think through your brand strategy before you start “performing random acts of marketing”, you’ll avoid shiny object syndrome. Plan your brand image intentionally. Flesh out your target customer and craft design and messaging that compels them. Carve out time to write your content and blog posts. Mark 20 minutes of social media time per day on your calendar like a meeting. You’ll spend more wisely, get more impact and put your business into overdrive.
  3. Don’t Believe Everything You Hear/Read/See: We were floored to learn that some of the foods we thought were somewhat healthy really are not. Here we are, trying to make good food choices, and we learned a ton about what food companies will stoop to say and do to make you think you’re making a good choice for your family. It actually made us both disgusted to be marketers, to tell you the truth.  For example, did you know “natural flavors” as an ingredient is not good for you? Did you know manufacturers list sugars and MSG as other names on the ingredients list to fool you? Do you know which cooking oils are “good for you” and which you should use in moderation – or not at all? Did you know that just because it says “whole grain” doesn’t mean it really is? We didn’t either. With your business, the same holds true. You don’t have to be an expert in everything (nor should you spend your time trying to be) but get educated on the basics. Understand the concepts of content marketing and SEO; take a course in how to read financial statements or understand QuickBooks 101; learn how to balance good design and good interactive strategy and usability; learn how your brand look and feel drives sales; understand the difference between branding, marketing, PR and social media. Be clear on what you’re investing in and how it will contribute to moving your business forward.

Photo credit: Racerxvt.com

Do any of these tips especially resonate with you – for your body or your business? What do you find fuels you or your business the most? Please share in the Comments below!

 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

When you shouldn’t give 100%

Posted on by Red Slice

We’re taught that practice makes perfect. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Give 110%.

I was a straight A student in high-school. I remember being devastated when I got my first B ever (Geometry) and I was brought to tears in college when I got the first C of my life (Microeconomics). Even when I got an A minus, I was a bit miffed. I’m not sure what I thought: did I really think anything less than an A-plus was a complete and utter failure on my part? Did I think it meant I hadn’t mastered or learned the content?

Math was especially challenging for me. I was more of a vocabulary and English gal. But I was good at memorization so many of my math classes were about nailing down the formula and replicating it – even if I didn’t understand the theory or reasoning behind it. Not the best way to learn, is it?

Sometimes that goal of perfection – of the A-plus – can hurt us. If we are such perfectionists, we may never get our newsletters out each month, or write that novel, or take a chance on that new business pitch. We may never launch that website. Waiting for perfection is an impossible task, since perfection is never possible. And that means you’ll spend your life and career planning to do things rather than making them happen.

There is a reason software companies release new versions every year. Version 1.0 is never going to be as good as 5.0 or even 10.0. They roll out something that is mostly complete, learn from their mistakes, and gather feedback, tweak and refine. Rinse. Repeat. If companies had not failed when trying to introduce tablets in the past, the iPad may never have been so successful now. If that first brick of a cell phone had never seen the market until it was “perfect”, we’d never have had generations of phones leading up the sleek, small, powerful smart phones of today.

Seth Godin always talks about the importance of shipping. Strategy and planning is vital, don’t get me wrong. But at some point, you have to tell the inner perfectionist to shut the hell up and ship your product, launch your website, open your shop or start your consulting practice.

You’ll learn. You’ll get feedback. And you’ll evolve. Recently, I spoke at the New York Times Small Business Summit on a panel called Evolve Your Brand. We spoke about the fact that, while a brand should stay true to its core values and mission, it can and should evolve. The world changes too fast for you to ever keep up with some mythical perfection standard built on shifting sands. It changes by the second.

So are you going to wait and wait and wait for 100% perfection before you do anything – and be the best-intentioned business or person who never accomplished a thing? Or are you going to put in the strategy work, get to a solid 80% and push those efforts out the door so you can keep on going, keep on improving and keep on innovating?

Doers DO. It really is that simple.

If you want to stop spinning your wheels and make your brand irresistible, ensure your messaging is clear and attract more clients or customers, then stop the excuses of being too busy and get into shape at my next Branding Bootcamp!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

The ABC’s of good content marketing with Sarah Von Bargen

Posted on by Red Slice

We all know content marketing is a good idea. It’s the whole “making time for it” and “doing it right” that trips people up. But we’re lucky enough today to hear from  Sarah von Bargen – blogger/writer/internet awesome-i-fier – with whom I have the privilege of working with often.

Sarah has 15 years of writing experience, an MA in Applied Linguistics that she doesn’t use, and a blog read daily by 10,000+ people.  Also: she has a cat named after a Russian historical figure, which is cool. Sarah runs Yes and Yes and helps companies and individuals become (more) awesome on the internet. She personally, professionally, and literally believes that yes is more fun than no – and she helps clients get more of their audience to say “yes” which, hey, isn’t that what good branding is really all about?

Today, Sarah is sharing her tips on good content marketing, how to craft killer website copy that people will attract and the committment secret that she put into her now successful blog.

RS: Sarah, you’re a brilliant copywriter. When and how did you expand your offerings into content and blog strategy for clients?

SVB: Well, gosh!  Thank you so much!  I’ve actually been offering content and blog strategy all long – but that aspect of my business has just recently started to take off.  While a clever, well-written About Page is super important, it needs to be part of an active website with regularly updated, useful content.

You know, like a blog.

I think a lot of people are finally realizing that they need to be more actively engaged with their readers and community – and I help them do that.

RS: It is kind of a “renaissance of customer engagement” we’re in, isn’t it? What is the biggest mistake people make with their blogs that is easily corrected?

SVB: Just talking about themselves and their products!  That’s like a TV show with two minutes of sitcom and 28 minutes of ads.  Create content that’s helpful to your target audience and engages them.

RS: Can you share your top 3 tips for how to attract more readers to your blog? Any specific advice on tags, titles or hyperlinking?

SVB: 1.  Create good content
You’ve probably heard this before (uh, like in the above paragraph) but you need to write things that are helpful and informative.  No amount of tagging and social media-ry is going to help if you’re just posting photo after photo of your own products.

2. Cross pollinate with other bloggers in your niche
Guest post on other blogs, host guest posts on your blog, interview people who have interesting, useful things to say, promote other bloggers’ posts that would be helpful to your readers.  Other bloggers will return the favor.

3. Leave comments on other blogs
Helpful, real comments that contribute to the discussion – not just “Great post!  Come check out my blog at [insert shameless link here].”  People will follow your comments back and return the favor.  For the first 2.5 years that I had my blog, I spent every lunch hour reading blogs and leaving comments.  Five days a week, 45 minutes a day, 2.5 years.  For real.

 

 

Net-net: Building an engaged community takes time. But content marketing helps you get there. Deliver value, be generous, provide opportunities for people to connect – and you will reap the rewards when it comes to converting those adoring community members into paying customers!

 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

What is your customer script?

Posted on by Red Slice

Oh, wait, you didn’t know they needed one?

If brand is all about reputation, than nothing beats it when that reputation spreads organically through word of mouth. You can’t be all places at once, so it pays to turn your customers into your own private evangelist army.

Many power brands revel in the fact that customers love them so much, those fans will generate content on their own accord – without pay – that promotes the company. Virgin America enjoys You Tube videos created by their happy passengers. Local businesses love seeing hundreds of stellar Yelp reviews from fans.

But you also want those messages highlighting the things you want your brand to represent. Meaning, you have to find some way to give your customers a script – or the main talking points – so that the message they are spreading is aligned with the one you want out in the world.  Do you want people to talk about your low prices or your artisan craftsmanship? Do you want the first thing they talk about to be your generous return policy or your quirky and fun email newsletter and brand voice?

What do you want to be known for? What is most important? One way to ensure customers know the script is to ensure that YOU do. I work with clients to build messaging platforms. Messaging platforms are internal tools designed to keep all your marketing on script for the three main messages you want to communicate about your brand. It then digs into each benefit and provides proof points that can be cited to explain why you can make that benefit claim.

Think about a conversation between a customer and a friend. What do you want them to say about you? What do you want the headline to be? Craft your messaging platform to ensure three clear benefits are conveyed in everything that you do, such as your website, your marketing, your ads. This way, you are arming your customers with the right script to share with others.

In order to control the external message as much as you can, you need to clarify the message internally first. Don’t just hope your customers will say the right things. Craft your messaging platform based on your brand and your authentic strengths and then bang the drum around those three main messages over and over again. Pretty soon, your customers will learn the script, too.

What is your customer script? What are the three main benefits you provide or things you want people talking about? Please share in the Comments!