Gratitude – the Present That Keeps on Giving

It’s early Christmas Eve and I’m enjoying a backlog of newsletters and emails while Christmas music is playing in the background. The theme of my day: gratitude.

As I reflect on the past year, I am grateful for many opportunities. I’m especially thankful for the chance to share these thoughts with you along with some of my favorite quotes about the process.

The ProfitMeister blog talks about five audiences – your stakeholders, your customers, employees, the media and the general public. Any one of these critical points of contact impacts your business; the self impact is frequently overlooked.

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us." –Albert Schweitzer

I am grateful for the many people who inspired me this year: coaches, friends, clients, family. To those who believed in me, thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks for your encouraging words. Thanks for sharing your true feelings. Thanks for working and playing with me.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” –William Arthur Ward

I appreciate those of you with whom I’ve worked this year. Thanks for your vote of confidence in hiring me. If it was a Board of Directors, thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve. To those of you who’ve read my blog, ProfitMeister, thanks for joining me in its development. Thanks too for the comments that I’ve received on my newsletter and its continued development.

“Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.” –Seneca

My wish for you is a beautiful Christmas season. Take some time to reflect on the things that matter to you and how you will incorporate them into the coming year. As we count down to the final moments of 2007, consider this thought:

"If you count all your assets, you always show a profit." -Robert Quillen

Merry Christmas!
The ProfitMeister

Buffet Style Marketing

Does your marketing resemble a buffet? I pose the question with all sincerity. During the holiday season converging themes make the marketing/buffet comparison easy. Many people run out of plate before they get to the end of the food line. The choices seem overwhelming and once the feasting begins, reality sets in.

Similarly, marketing opportunities can also be endless. Typically, most firms run out of money before they try everything. It’s hard to imagine an all-over-the-board marketing effort (a true marketing buffet) that’s efficient. Little bits of everything provide no satisfaction and fewer results.

For the potluck connoisseur, it’s safe to bet that discipline goes out the window in the face of a plethora of savory, high calorie options. An advertising solution such as fabulous artwork causes the same pain; I know clients that have to buy additional display ads just to show off their creation.

Going to any type of food feast in a hungry state is dangerous because of a temptation to over-consume or eat mediocre offerings. Unplanned marketing expenditures produce similar unhappy circumstances. Spur-of-the-moment decisions, for example, drain resources; subsequent responses to changes in the competitive arena may have to be delayed for lack of budget.

Buffets offer little hope for consistency. They’re a mixed bag when it comes to maintaining a disciplined eating program as well. Think about your marketing. Is it suffering from the same symptoms? Are you ordering buffet of the week or season? The basics might be boring, but they work.

Food, festivities, indulgences, and social opportunities can collide in a buffet, with collateral damages for all. Don’t let your marketing buffet put your business in a similar situation.

Clock Out, Check In…Creating Communication Connections

Clocks tick off time, marking the passage of statistics, intentions, and accomplishments. A mere eighteen days left in 2007. Blogs shout it. Emails tout it. Signs proclaim the urgency of buying now. Advertisements galore contribute to the rush. The list of additional things to be done is daunting at best.

So imagine doing things differently. How will your schedule look on December 13, 2008? To what accomplishments will you point? How will your business be different? My plan is to simplify and that challenge requires eliminating.

If you plan to simplify your calendar, mid-December is a fascinating time to begin. I chose December 1 to begin the resolution. Inspired by a quote from William James, “To change one’s life: start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.”

In confronting my own calendar, I found “No” to be an inspiring word. With every repetition of the word, I felt my strength increase. I began December with an exercise and diet challenge. Why? Because I can. It gave me the opportunity to practice saying no to hundreds of goodies presented at various meetings and gatherings.

Tama Kieves, a Harvard lawyer turned inspirational writer and coach talks persuasively in her current newsletter, Trusting the Journey Times:

“This holiday season, I urge you to, drum roll please, give to yourself. Stay true to your natural desires. Turn off the autopilot mechanism, disable obligation, ditch comparison, and dive into the cool waters of authenticity. Dare to live this season as honestly as you can. Let everyone else "shop till they drop" or stand helplessly at parties. Listen to and love yourself first, and you will set free a light that buoys everyone around you. It's never "selfish" to tend your own magnificent soul.”

How’s that for putting you and your business in a different perspective?

Marketing 2008: A Three-pronged Strategy

“How’s your 2008 marketing shaping up?” As a small business marketing consultant, the question comes naturally. The variety of answers amazes me. Surprisingly, with fewer than 30 days left in the year, some people have given 2008 marketing little thought. Others have pages of ideas and no action items.

I’m most intrigued with the simple statements. For example, Holly Hitzemann, an eco-conscious toy manufacturer, told me that Perennial Toys expects to use four marketing channels in 2008:

• Trade shows and special events
• Public relations
• Direct response programs
• Internet

Do I think Perennial's strategy will succeed? Yes. Unlike the majority of small business owners, Holly has pared her plan to essentials, refusing to be sucked into the conundrum of complexity. The four tactics that she outlined work well together. Direct response cards go out after every trade show; stories about the product lines are pitched to specific reporters at targeted publications. A year- long calendar of event opportunities is a virtual public relations feast in the making. Her web site serves as a primary sales vehicle and is updated regularly.

The point is that Holly has developed specificity. In addition to working only four major tactics, she has also developed three themes that Perennial expects to leverage as guides for marketing activities:

• Environment – alliance partners as well as the products themselves represent the eco-conscious aspect of Perennial’s toys. The mission of the organization connects children to earth’s habitat. Further, a portion of every product sale goes to Defenders of Wildlife as well as Amigos Bravos, a river restoration organization in New Mexico.
• Community – instead of a shotgun approach which assumes that everyone is a prospect, Perennial will match community involvement with appropriate targets. Think children’s wards in hospitals.
• Products – the river otter coloring book, due for release next week, has already sold more than 1000 pre-order copies as a result of targeted pre-publicity.
  

Every action for the coming year will be evaluated against the three-prong strategy. Can you present a marketing plan equally simple?

A Contrarian Views Marketing Planning for 2008

I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost

Heads up for a contrarian blog post that offers 3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Use Social Media Marketing. Shama Hyder, After the Launch Marketing Expert for professional service businesses discusses common considerations that are basic and yet compelling, noting the following:

• Don’t market without a plan or you’ll waste time wandering online
• Don’t market if you’re not interested; it will show
• Don’t market if you’re only doing it because it’s trendy; long term commitment is required.

Those reasons might be applied to any marketing effort. Shama walks the social media marketing talk; her personal strategy includes one Facebook profile makeover per week.

In a more traditional medium, the Wall Street Journal this weekend took another contrarian view with a look at Market IQ, offering signs of a low market IQ as well as a method for raising that foundation. The article emphasized that consumer shopping behavior is becoming increasingly complex. Examples from the food marketing business supported the illustration. The same customer who shops at Costco, for example, might also shop at Trader Joes and Whole Foods as well as another basic grocery store.

If your company doesn’t track the right kind of data across a variety of segments, then you might be at risk to act on incorrect market information. Three characteristics indicate a low Market IQ:

• A focus largely on current customers
• A tendency to base proprietary strategies on what is publicly known
• A reliance on qualitative research
• A pattern of taking a piecemeal approach

Once again the problem list might be applied to any marketing effort. Professional service businesses have similar challenges to product based ones when it comes to marketing. While I subscribe to the theory that any research is better than none, that is not true in this instance. The contrarian view forces one to reconsider.

Think about what you may have overlooked in your marketing plans for 2008.