Connie Ragen Green
Lain Ehmann scrapbooking, businesslovepotion.com for NAMS
LE – I see my job as acting as a filter for my market. I bring only the best to them. Builds trust – curator
CRG be a filter and I love the idea that communities within communities happen. I call my list ‘my community people’. Its important to get to know them and to connect with them at as deep a level as possible. Hit reply and talk back.
ND Every blog post I encourage comments, I respond to comments. I reach out to people on Facebook especially happy birthday greetings. I share personal information to make me approachable and personable to my audience. Be an expert and be personable.
CRG I am an introvert so I had to work on the skill of fitting in to the community. Reaching out in person through social media can be learned. I was shy about having pictures taken. I got over this at my first live event ‘who am I to not want to have my picture taken with a fan’?
LE I have a strong community around the main blog and also a membership site. I call them my ‘family’ when they get discounts, I call it the “Family Discount”. Your community does not have to be a message board or forum, you decide what fits your personality – you will draw people to you who resonate with yours.
ND You may want to have community but are short of time -it’s hard to make time for this. You can outsource some of your connecting – hire people to run and moderate the forum. I have someone who moderates my comments so I only see the real ones. Hire someone to do the FB happy birthdays for you. It’s more important that they get the happy birthday than it is actually sent by me.
Questions
Are you transparent about the fact that you have staff who do things? ND I answer my own emails and blog posts but on my niche sites they are all outsourced as they aren’t on my own name. LE I have a moderator on my membership site who answers questions – it’s clear it’s from her. Nobody tweets as me or posts on FB as me. Sometimes I pre write emails for my VA to send out for me… works for common questions. CRD Sometimes I get frustrated by emails ‘Vivian’ is my alter ego and writes things that I am not prepared to write. She takes my place when I risk being rude “connie is sleeping and will get back to you later, Vivian”. LE I had 500 people on my list when I decided this was my main income source; making the tradition for them from it all being from me to a team reply. They see me as a family friend. I did it step by step and for the people in my membership those who pay more money for more access get more from me and those at a low level get directed to a blog post by my VA.
How personal should you be – maintaining boundaries? LE it’s a function of what you are comfortable with but think about the future implications of what you share now. If you have family do you want to share that information – use pseudonym for family members. CRD we had a family meeting 4 years and we don’t share most family pictures and never show anyone under 18. I didn’t want to disrespect those I love. I sometimes quote them but I never use their first name or show their faces. LE my kids know that as long as I’m paying their living expenses they are fair game! ND I am very private about money and don’t share. How much do they need to know and would it benefit them to overcome it? If you succeed that would merit sharing.
Decision process – which is appropriate a forum or membership site or FB group? pros and cons. LE when I launched my membership site – the technical options were confusing and I used a Flickr gallery with the message board and a WP blog with a password that changed and they emailed each month… that got me 200 members. After 18 months I moved to a hosted message board on my site. Get it done fast and fix it up later.
There are many platforms for a community – are all the places a single community? Are there platforms that are not community bases? CRD I think of Social Media as the big playground in the city and my goal is to get people to come to my house and play in my back yard… I make the rules at my house. Taking them away from social media and onto my site. Especially on FB we have overlapping friends and it’s hard to stay connected in that way. I use the FB secret groups which works well and they can come to the group as an exclusive and there’s no cost for that. LE I didn’t want to pay a lot for a custom solution as I didn’t know how many people would pay initially. If you want to migrate a group you have revenue to invest. Look at what others are doing in your market – what’s missing from that? do they have galleries but no message board; how are they linked, is the security good enough, where can you get an advantage over what’s been done already. ND I am all about lifestyle so a problem with community is it doesn’t’ fit with lifestyle – look at options and understand that if you start a forum you are competing with FB and you have to spend hours managing that. I don’t have that. I’d rather do a live webinar where people can interact and build community that way. I will go to someone else’s forum – they have built the community and I can just tag along. It’s not my goal to build community in that way. LE community might start with you connecting with your audience but it’s more important for your audience to connect with each other. The group thing takes it to a higher level. The group supports newcomers and I have a lower time involvement. I have a thread ‘Questions for Lain’ – and often these are already answered when I get to them. I give the community permission to answer for me.
How do you get participation going in forums? CRD I did a forum for 4 months after an event It was so muc work even with 2 moderators. It was paid and around a common theme. I don’t think you get the commitment unless it’s paid. LE you have to know what motivates your audiences – contests or your favourite product for doing something. It’s more the winning than the value of the prize. Bring in experts, and seed some of the conversations…. start them with questions in advance. ND Lain gets lots of interaction with pictures of Hugh Jackman.
Dan Morris – I like being a member of Rober Chaldini’s community and Rick Rabbits forum but they aren’t regularly there but the moderators are as knowledgeable as the named leaders.
I have small businesses clients where we’re creating forums and the people are coming to talk to the head person in the small business. How can I create a forum where the leader is still there but when we go to sell the business it’s not depending on her.
CRD Introduce someone very quickly and give them a title – Mastermind Expert – so they quickly see the value of them. We don’t brand a single person / doctor in my community – you promote their idea and the practice as a whole. ND don’t call them moderator, call them coach, or Mastermind Leader. Gary suggests offering a certification program – so the certified representatives can answer and you also create a business asset that can be sold. LE make the expectations very clear up front.
I heard the main reason people leave is that they feel overwhelmed by information provided? I check what I promise them; am I delivering what I said ‘a monthly Q&A and a monthly giveaway’. Start low and explain we are building… sign up at this low point because I’m experimenting and finding out what everyone wants; get them to rate what they get each month in order of value. ND the overwhelm is normally because it’s not organized well – so they can see where the key pieces fit. So use it as a retention strategy not a turn off. Easy to consume the content. Remind them when they sign in why they decided to be there… LE drip out information over the month – one thing per week; webinar, inspiration quote etc. It makes them want to stay because they know more is coming. CRD Listen to everyone in the forum because the vociferous may be complaining.
My readers are asking for a community, what would the team recommend? LE if you are the broker why do you want to move out of the middle and allow them to communicate together. What would the goal be? A Mastermind in Coaching – ask how much you want to be involved – do you want to lead or let others lead. Id wouldn’t choose something that takes 6 months to monetize. ND what are the competition using.. there are no other JV brokers on the planet? Suggest Ning. CRD start with a smaller group within the 250 and use them as the model to start with … see what they want. BuddyPress which is a WP offering – a free plugin.
What webinar platforms do you use? LE I use to stream live video / talking head and pre-recorded. I pay for WebEx $400 per month. But it’s the cornerstone of my business. It works when I have 400 people in a room. promotion is the big thing for webinars. I had 2 large events over the year each 2 days. To leverage that I do 3 webinars every month (1 hour free – 750 attendees promoted on FB). Just tweet – are you attending, pass it on…and I have a full sales page for that even though it’s a free event.
CRD I use Citrix – gotowebinar you can get a $99 per month – I pay by the year it’s cheaper. I don’t do free much. when I do I only send out the notice 3 hours before short notice and I don’t record it. I show my screen and so don’t record it. I want people who are not pard of my paid programs to see what it’s like being on a webinar with me and join the paid group. So I do teach in it but it’s not sold.
LE if you want it to be community event had e chat function. if its teaching event turn this off. I only make it available to paid group forever, and for a short time to view after to those who signed up. ND connie’s strategy of last minute, it trains customers to open her emails because it’s time dependent. A JV webinar can build your list really quickly. LE my number 1 list builder is JVs (3600 and I made it to 6 figures with a list of under 3k people).
Secret FB group – I allow the community to answer the questions. I support them but I don’t go in daily. i also have another person as an admin to ensure if there are problems someone else can access the page.
Short term forums – following a live event we did a 6 week forum. Fixed a date to close it down. If you want info or to connect to others then do ti fast. CRD google groups – i created a name and when it was over, I deleted all the posts and started from scratch again and re-used the same name again.
I have a VA go afterward and harvest every post and creat a pdf to send out after the class. There is an archive of every message from during the class and people love it. LoriFoley.com
Wishlist Member – my members requested to do the FB thing as they are on there already. I also do buddy press; they do homework on the membership site but the interaction is all on FB.
Control? LE his was hard for me to relinquish control of my community. I keep and eye but i let go of the reins and there’s a month class – one scrapbook layout per day for the whole month. One of my members created a blog hop of ‘tips for surviving the month’.
How do you take your community and turn them into revenue? Frugal Blogger. Facebook site. LE they are a source of content even if they do’t click links. They can ask or answer questions – create a special report (if you have permission). ND use them to build your list then you promote your list and grow your bottom line. Contests on FB but have to go to your site to participate. Then capture them to your list. Jessica – for FB you’re there because your audience is there… they interact with what’s in your stream. To get into their stream by getting them to like a post, comment on it or share it. Word it to encourage likes/shares. That can also help. “Target has socks on clearance for $1 like this post if you never have enough socks in your house”. CRD also people are more likely to comment on pictures and videos.
Does anyone use tools to determine when is the best times to post so it doesn’t drop below the stream on FB? LE I follow my blot stats to see what time people are on lmy blog and then I follow that back to my tweeting. ND I don’t have a plan for that.
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For the next couple of days I’m at NAMS 7 a conference about niche affiliate marketing. How to make and sell products online to an audience based on a mailing list.
There will be a series of blog posts all entitled ‘NAMS’ that follow.
If you have a product or service that can be sold to a clearly defined audience, this is a toolkit that you need to learn about.
By going to this conference Creative Agency Secrets team will be better equipped to use these skills to help our clients.
]]>As marketers we are well known for our planning skills- and nothing helps more when preparing for an event than making lists. Lots and lots of lists.
Events can potentially be one of your largest marketing spends throughout the year, so when making such a big investment it is key to be organised and prepared.
So here are our top tips of the little things which often get forgotten which can help you plan and prepare for your event:
1. Objective Setting
Even before thinking about booking that venue or event space you need to get organised. Think about your key objectives. What do you want to get out of exhibiting and how will an event help you achieve this? Think about what your key measures of a successful event are or how will you track your ROI?
Think about who you want to target and how you’re going to appeal to them.
Also if you have attended an event previously- think about your successes and failures and include this in your plan. You don’t want to make the same mistakes you had previously.
2. Budgets
Plan a budget and make sure you stick to it ensuring that you have covered even the small things off your list. This can help you measure your return on investment down to finite details. Think about how much your event space costs, your exhibition stand and even the little things like hotel costs and travel.
3. Create an event calendar/ project list
Creating a list of important times and details (with project manager) can help you see your key task lists and who is supposed to complete it. Give yourself plenty of time to plan and have your exhibition stand build, produce your marketing collateral and order your promotional materials- these things can certainly take more time than you think.
4. Create a marketing plan
Many exhibitors leave promoting their attendance at an event until the last minute. Think about creating a marketing campaign in advance of your event. Add your attendance to your website, social networks and blogs. Talk to your industry magazines and associations to promote yourself. Creating a formalised event marketing plan will really help you to promote your attendance and to get those all important attendees to your stand.
5. Let your team know
Making sure you have your sales team or best company representatives at your event is hugely important; you can let them do what they do best in a fantastic environment. Making sure peoples’ diaries have the event in well in advance can ensure that internally your teams are well informed and are able to attend. Often it is effective to create a staff rota to schedule breaks and lunches so that your staff don’t all disappear from your event stand at the same time. Make sure they have a list of all the details of the stand- organise a briefing before the show opens so they understand how to work all your stands gadgets and know where the pens and pads are for example.
Have a list of dos and dont’s to make sure your staff are aware of your expectations. It is also useful to create a document detailing features of the event including details of where they are expected to park, when you require them etc. These things often get forgotten.
6. Let you customers and prospects know
It’s a great opportunity for you to meet with you customers and potential customers under one roof- the cost saving of having meetings at the venue vs. organising individual one to ones can be huge and it’s a great chance for you to show off your companies creativity with a fantastic exhibition stand. There is no point having an effective stand and well organised event but with no one to visit you.
7. Sort out transport and hotels in advance
Once you know you are attending an event it’s a good idea to get booked up into a local hotel to your venue. Many are aware of local events and can hike their prices up so it’s a good cost saving exercise to book transport and accommodation for you and your teams.
8. The don’t forget items…
Make sure you make a list of all those little bits and pieces which can get forgotten. Yes you have your huge exhibition stand but did you remember the stapler? Making sure you have thought about every possibility is better than not having the tools if you need them. Badges, stationary and other equipment are often left behind. Always be prepared.
This is a guest post by Tamara Pitt, marketing manager for exhibition stand manufacturer Nimlok.
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There are times when enforced time pressure and driven creativity can be very helpful for a business. Read the last
Facebook IPO - pix 02 (Photo credit: k-ideas)
paragraph of the Economist’s appraisal of the Facebook IPO.
Mr Zuckerberg’s social-ist manifesto also made clear that Facebook would stick to what he calls “the Hacker Way” – a nod to the “HP Way” which encapsulated the ethos of the founders of Hewlett-Packard. Facebook has hitherto been able to focus on fostering an innovative culture that encourages employees to move fast and take risks. new programmers are encouraged to push out code onto its platform in their first week on the job and the company regularly holds all-night “hackathons”.
This was echoed in a campaign we ran for a client this week for “Waitangi Day“. This is the New Zealand national holiday remembering the signing of the treaty between the white settlers and the Maori natives. Our campaign, like the Waitangi Treaty, was a rush job – we scoped the campaign quickly but getting 5 collaborative partners from other businesses on board in 4 days was a challenge – but the team pulled it off and delivered outstanding metrics.
The focussed work ethic and time urgency meant we all over-performed and the results were very pleasing. We noticed an enhanced teamwork feeling of collaboration and mutual support as well.
Challenges for my business and for yours
- Why not set up a focused time-pressure deadline for some of your work once in a while?
- Can you create something akin to a ‘hackathon’ to drive value and deliver rapidly?
- What meaningful goals can you set for new employees?
Related articles
- For Facebook ‘Hacker Way’ is way of life (goerie.com)
- Mark Zuckerberg, the Hacker Way and the Art of the Founder’s Letter (wired.com)
- Waitangi Day ‘a time for reflection’ (nzherald.co.nz)
Great fun from Robert Rosenthal’s Facebook group “What I saw at the Direct Marketing Revolution”.
You should also see our Anatomy of an Agency post…. for more fun poked at creative marketing agency personalities
Perception of personality types in advertising agencies
An awesome fun-poke at the advertising industry from the Canadian geniuses behind the big orange slide blog from Grip Limited.
Take a read and weep!
But before I lose your attention to the fun, check out their blog rationale / objective. Think I might copy this….
Our big hairy goal? To be the best 5-minutes of your day.
I badly want to add in a column for “Business Development Director”. I know JUST what I’d write.
Enjoy.
Image via Wikipedia
Robin from PromoManagers writes about the ultimate agency nightmare client. His firm acquired the business but the client doesn’t listen to the agency advice. The relationship has been going downhil.
But they are stuck because the agency needs the income but they also recognise this client won’t ever be a huge success with the campaigns they run and won’t make them rich due to the lack of follow-through.
He says
I’ve been part of a team of people working on “the problem child” account for almost a year now. The short of it is that (a) they need more than just marketing to grow their business and (b) they blatantly ignore our recommendations and then complain that they’re not getting results.
This is clearly a failng relationship.
His article was prompted by an Entrepreneur article where the commenters all suggest their ‘best decision’ was to actually fire the customer – interesting that Robin didn’t feel he could do the same. But maybe he’s not the decision maker in his agency.
Symptoms to watch out for – Nightmare Clients from Hell
- you complain to your co-workers A LOT about them
- nearly everything they say annoys you
- you find it hard to think of something positive to say
- when you see them the first thing that jumps into your head is negative or sarky/snide / negative
- you have to struggle to be enthusiastic about your work on their brand
Any others? What do nightmare clients from hell make you do or thing?
Image via Wikipedia
Image by antitezo via Flickr
Is it possible that a creative agency can build a pipeline of new business without having to respond to RFPs as a means of finding new leads?
Two articles in my RSS feed today struck me today as being relevant to this topic
The first is a slide deck from the excellent Courtney Pemberton and Tom Ross
Where the presenters contrast Schipul - a 37 person web development firm who do low-budget websites and lots of them; with Four Kitchens a 12 man operation whose average web development budget is $250,000. Which firm would you rather do new business development for? I know my response!
And the second is a USA Today expert opinion from Steve Strauss. He details the hideously comic-if-it-wasn’t-so-awful conference call with a web development team who fail to deliver even a basic understanding of their prospective client’s business. I am sure it happened just as he recounts
•They internally scheduled the wrong time for the call (we are on the west coast, they were on the east coast).
•Once the call started, 15 minutes late, two of the folks on their end couldn’t find the website we had asked them to review with us on the call.
•The boss was not on the call at the start and they scrambled to find him.
Finally, 10 minutes into a call that was already starting 15 minutes late, the boss jumped on the line. He didn’t really know the purpose of the call, or who I was, or what we were doing, and so asked “So just what is it you do again?”
Are you disorganised in your new business process?
Making new business happen is one of the 7 steps in our new biz dev process. Internal team management in advance of and during briefing calls is a ‘hygiene’ factor. It is necessary as the underpinning to a solid new business pipeline.
We did a seminar today at Otago Southland Employers Association about How to migrate your marketing online.
The Resources and additional material which add to the slides are:
- Blog post about website keywords and how to test for their use
- Reverse IP Mapping Explained – and download the free e-book
- Leads Explorer and DomoDomain are examples of companies offering IP lookup services
- How to do B2B leads research guide slide deck
- The Word of Mouth marketing website - this is the Otago/Dunedin page, there are many others
How to use these resources:
Check out the original slide deck; then review the Reverse IP Mapping document – it includes a case study done on our own website about visitors, lastly review the slide deck B2B leads research because this shows how to use the reverse IP mapping in your business development methodology.
]]>Take a look at your website. Are the pages populated with unique and pertinent information and calls to action? Were you writing with the sharpness of a journalist’s eye? Have you embedded keywords and in-text links? Or do you find that you’re looking at, well, a lot of blank space…
We are working with a new client – APC technologies is the leading supplier for computing solutions in rugged environments, aka, they make computers that can withstand dirt, liquid, industrial hoses – when they say rugged, they mean it. We began by tackling their website, asking the questions that we’ve just put forth to you, and we found that we were looking at a lot of blank space. You want your website to be packed with useful information while retaining navigability. The photo on the left is the original page before we dug our fingers into it, and the photo on the right is our re-written version, including additional links within the text, SEO tags and fewer products for distraction. We will be editing every page of the website, because every page is important, and if it isn’t, delete it. You can call it spring cleaning for your website and it can be done any time of year!
