Business Marketing In The Coming Decade: Frustration Or Opportunity

In between skiing the moguls last week I was thinking a lot about what this next decade will look like for business marketers. We wrote the “Disrupted” book to give you a road map of what to expect with the profound changes taking place right now because of technology and new applications. This is all happening faster than we could have ever expected…and you have a choice to make.

That’s right. The ball is in your court, but you need to decide if you’re business is going to look at this change as an opportunity, or become bogged down with anxiety and frustration. Seth Godin had a great post on this a few days ago. He framed this in big, drastic terms because the stakes are so high. “The revolution is in full swing and an entire generation is eager to change everything because of it”.

Let’s get started in this first week of the new decade. No better time than right now to get your business and team on-board for the marketing revolution!

Where to start?

1. Embrace change- Learn, experiment and test new things. This is not a one time thing…you will need to build this into your business process and culture because this change is happening over years and is not stopping.
2. Lead by example- Some of this new stuff is hard. Just mention blogging to your staff and watch them squirm. Participating in the community and becoming a trusted source takes time and a new kind of professionalism that needs to come from the top.
3. Measure everything- Huge economic advantage will go to the businesses that understand this revolution and know how to optimize it for their purposes. You can’t optimize unless you are measuring.

Get help if you need it. Things are moving very quickly and it is hard to keep up unless you are following technology and case studies very closely.

Here’s to the next decade!

What are you thinking?

Don’t Fake It…Is Your Brand Authentic?

Have you ever tried to find a restaurant that your family can stop in quickly while you are on the road in an unfamiliar place.  You start looking for places along the side of the road, and make split second decisions about where you will eat…what brand you will buy!

Last weekend while on the road with my family we did this, and it struck me how we were making these decisions.  In this case, we were thinking about two different Italian places. One was a chain and the other was a family owned restaurant. The chain seemed to be a well organized, nice looking store but it felt sterile, not very warm or inviting. Even more important, we did not see many cars in the parking lot. We got the impression that the chain was going to have “fake” Italian food. In contrast, the other Italian restaurant was smaller, but something felt “authentic” about the look and feel.  Not very polished like the other restaurant, but it was inviting. Even better, a TON of cars in the parking lot…we had to wait for a seat.

Not all chains are bad and not all family owned restaurants are good.  That is not the point here. Being true to what you are, and making that contagious among your best customers and prospects is the difference between an average business and one that needs “extra parking”. McDonald’s does not sell on the fact it has the best burgers in town or most comfortable environment. But if you have kids, and you are looking for a quick, no hassle place to get a meal everyone will like, who does not absolutely love it when you see those golden arches in the windshield?

This principle of authenticity is going to become even more important in the emerging digital era of social media marketing. The opportunity is to energize the social graph with what your product or service is about. The net effect is brand buying decisions like we see in the analog world (discussed above) are happening real time in the digital word now. How do you make sure your business marketing reflect your brand or service in an authentic way? Here are some ideas:

1. Don’t let others define your brand, be active. If you make adjustments because of competitive issues or customer insights, make sure they become core touchstones in every facet of your business. We have a strategy document that among other things outlines specific touchstones for communication. Anyone in the company (or outside contractors) has access and uses it as a guiding principle for creating any touch-points with customers or prospects.
2. Explore various ways to communicate your brand authenticity and measure reaction. You want to get people talking, sharing and engaging with your brand. The great thing about the social web is it costs virtually nothing to participate. You can try approaches in fairly quick cycles and get feedback. In the analog world, you have to build a store and it is very hard to change it once it’s done.  Not so in the digital world. Use this to your advantage.
3. Participate! I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago about how I think blogging makes me a much better business person.  It clarifies my thinking and gets me in the conversation with my customers. Also, participating in forums and other blogs plugs me into the top of mind issues that my customers and partners are taking about, and allows me to make adjustments if I am not talking to those issues.

The big reason why you want to be authentic…it will differentiate your brand. The worst thing you can do is blend in and be like everyone else. That chain Italian restaurant probably suffered from this more than any other issue. I did not see a reason to go!

Every business and every person has a unique, interesting personality that people will want to engage in if you let it out. Are you?

How To Build A Business From A Depression Era Entrepreneur: 5 Lessons From Dad

This is a tough post to write as my dad, Cosmos Marentis, past away last night in his sleep after a week of hospital and hospice care. He was an incredible man, successful entrepreneur and business mentor. He grew up in Harlem NYC during the depression, raised by Greek immigrant parents.

Dad used to scrape the ice off the streets, after ice delivery trucks left, so he can bring it home to the icebox our family had in the tenement building. They could not afford to buy ice themselves. He had to be an enterprising person from the beginning.

My family benefited greatly from dads wisdom. Most of us are all successful entrepreneurs, millionaires many times over because of his mentoring and example. As we sat in the hospice waiting for the inevitable ending of this outstandingly lived life, I thought a lot about where my dad started in life and how he ended up building one of the largest and most successful mechanical contracting companies in the NYC region.

Here are some key lessons I learned that I want to share with you:

1. Just start doing something! My dad got out of the army after WWII and opened up shop in Manhattan servicing Greek Diners and funeral parlors.  He started working with the “new technology” called refrigeration and air conditioning. He did not always know exactly what he was doing, but knew he could figure it out as he worked with it. No VC’s, no 100 page business plan, 100% make it happen.

2. Be open and available for new opportunities. My dad got a call one day from someone in real estate at the Bank Of New York. They needed a company to service their new air conditioning system 24/7, 365 for a new kind of room…for computers.  My dad did not even know what a computer was or why they needed a room, but he said yes because he knew that if it was that important to them, they would pay good money (and so would others) for that service.

3. Make your employees and clients feel special. It’s amazing how your business will grow and new opportunities get created when you have motivated people working with you and clients that know how much you appreciate them.

4. Persistence and determination will separate your business from your competition. At the end of the day, most markets that have solid opportunities will also have very good competitors. You will also face unforeseen obstacles and events, it’s inevitable. Seth Godin calls this “The Dip”. My dad had to battle rheumatic fever, the unexpected death of a partner and many other events that could have been great excuses to give up. Dad didn’t and his competitors did…he ate their lunch!

5. Technology is your friend! Many entrepreneurs don’t want to take the time to integrate new technology and process into their business. It’s hard.  It takes time and a learning curve. From new computer room technology to operational infrastructure, my dads company used everything they could to stay ahead of the competition. You can too!

I think about my own business today, GenNext Media, and what we preach with new technology and social media marketing. These touchstones or lessons have never rang truer than today.  We are hopefully coming out of the “great recession” and business marketing is changing dramatically…we call it disruption.  Fact is, just like in the past, winners and losers will emerge in this “new normal”.  These lessons from my dad are a beacon to a successful outcome for any business.

Thanks Dad! We love you and will miss you…

Thankful For The New Normal

I am thankful for a ton of things this holiday. Funny thing is in the midst of this great recession I started a business, crazy right?

Think about this.  The media and marketing economy is in the biggest state of disruption since the invention of the radio.  With over 10% unemployment, finding great people is easier than ever.  New technologies like cloud computing and web services make starting a business inexpensive…with powerful tools as good as any large company can afford. Major media does not have a lock on my messaging? I don’t need a sales rep to “buy” advertising! Don’t get me wrong, I like sales reps, I was one in the mid 1980’s.

It has never been a better time to accelerate or build your business. Those of us who stand up and take this opporutnity will be rewarded.

Let’s be thankful for all this change and get ready to take advantage of it!

What do you think?

Google Wave: It’s The Next Huge Opportunity For Business Marketing

Anticipation and excitement is building about the official launch of the Google Wave. Trust me this will bring social media marketing to the next level.  Like all new applications, it’s hard to predict exactly how, but it will. If you have not heard about Gwave yet here are the basics:

• Google Wave is a real-time communications platform. It facilitates the use of email, instant messaging, wikis, web chat, social networking and project management (incorporating any media) in one easy-to-use interface.
• Like many Web 2.0 applications, the Wave is build on the cloud computing framework so it should be inexpensive and available for just about any Internet connected devise.
• Google’s Wave technology is based on the HTML 5.0 toolkit, which allows it to exist as a natural element of HTML coding for supporting browsers. Among other things, this enables email content to be hosted on a Wave.
• Wiki functionality is built in so a Wave can be edited by other users that share the platform withing a designated “Gwave community”.
• Key features of Google Wave is real time communication, Waves can be embedded in any website or blog and it is open source so developers (and marketers) can innovate new applications.

The opportunities to use Google Wave for business marketing are powerful and endless.

Think about Gwave this way.  It’s like message boards with the ability to be real time.  Moreover, you will be able to move a Wave anywhere you want on the Internet (blogs, websites) and add any kind of media with drag and drop functionality.

Imagine, a retail store email could direct customers and prospects to a Wave where they are viewing the merchandise in real time with hundreds, or thousands, of other potential customers. Here they can comment (or buy) on the email and special offers, and engage in discussions. As they get customer feedback, retail marketers can update, in real time, the merchandise assortment customers are most interested in. New merchandise is brought back to customers in real time.  Retailer could provide better service to customer by showing new merchandise ideas based on feedback.  Kind of like the person in the store handing new clothes over the stall while you are in the dressing room trying things on.

In this case, customers opening email multiple times in a day would see various merchandise assortments based on how the wave is evolving. Gwave takes targeting and customization to a new level, with content immediately tailored to each individual customer based on their feedback within the Wave.

Google Wave is still in it’s early stages and you can’t get it unless invited in. The key learning for you as a businesses owner or marketing exec is that you need to be in the game learning now.  With the tools and applications we have now.  Chances are Gwave builds on what we have, not replaces it.  Its a new world of marketing, and success will go to those that know how to thrive with new technology.

You can learn more at http://wave.google.com

Business Marketing: How to get more clients and bigger profits using new technology and applications to dominate your market.

Good news for the internet newbie: To the swift go the spoils. Master social marketing, and you’ll dominate your niche.

Entrepreneur hopefuls who are seeking for ways to succeed in online business may finally have a more level playing field thanks to social media. Reduced costs involved with social marketing and the ability to interact with customers easily through new technology and social media applications, make it possible for newbies to jump in and quickly become a trusted authority in a certain niche. This translates to more customers and increased profits in less time.

There was once a time when new business owners had to fight their way to the top and take a beating from competitors, but social media has changed all of that. It is a new game now, and if you can learn the ins and outs of successful social marketing, you can dominate your market.

Attract and convert customers

One word can describe the best philosophy for getting clients: relationship. If you can connect with your prospective customers, engage them and create loyalty, you are in an excellent position to convert prospects into paying customers.

But how do you build these valuable relationships? The answer is to go where your customers are. Use simple online research to identify a number of social media sites where your customers hang out. Search for forums, message boards, blogs and social networks where these people are asking questions, posting reviews and building relationships. Once you have found these sites, join in on the discussions. By posting thoughtful questions and valuable information to help others, you can become a part of the community.

It only takes a handful of quality communications with a group to become a valued member. When you become known as the person who brings something worthwhile to the table, you begin to establish yourself as a person of authority on the topic or niche. Then, and only then, can you begin to share your business subtly—through a signature link or a product mention.

Rather than approaching these social communities from a seller’s perspective, you approach them from a relationship perspective, which allows you to earn the right to present your products and services in time.

Create bigger profits

In order to increase your business profits, it is important to get past the mind-set of doing anything and everything for one sale. Instead, your focus should be on the repeat customer. After all, it takes a lot of effort, communication and sometimes money to convert that one customer, so why not make it worth your while?

The way to maintain the connection with the customer is to communicate continually. Consider sending out a monthly e-newsletter to stay in touch with customers in order to keep you fresh in their minds. That way, when they think of something they need, they will come to you instead of the competitor.

Make your marketing communications more than just a sell message. Offer something of value—a whitepaper, special report, e-book or video—to build rapport with your customer list. By sharing with customers information they desire, you are further solidifying yourself as the authority on the subject in their minds. This way, they click on your link and visit your site when they are looking for solutions.

Business marketing is so much more than it used to be. Rather than pumping money into ads that may or may not work, social media technology and applications now provide you with low-cost methods that in many cases are far more effective in reaching customers and increasing business profits.

Chris Marentis is a serial entrepreneur and recognized Internet Marketing expert having served as SVP at AOL and CEO of Clearspring Technologies. For more information on Business Marketing, go to http://www.gennextmedia.com today.