Continuing Ed

Welcome to the April edition of “Not Your Usual Marketing Tips” from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

One of the great things about the Internet is the opportunity for a kind of “continuing ed” in one’s chosen field or industry.

I’ve discussed, in the past, the benefits of subscribing to certain e-zines – “electronic magazines” or newsletters – from those I consider true marketing gurus. They’ve got a lot of knowledge to impart, and some of that knowledge every now and then takes the form of a “tele-seminar” they put on. I listened to one just last week, and there was some great stuff in it (part of its greatness was it was free!)

Alexandria Brown, the self-anointed “Queen of the E-Zine” did a two-night series on the benefits of trotting out an electronic publication – such as what you’re reading right now – for reasons too numerous to mention here. (You can go right to the source, though, to learn more at http://alexandriabrown.com/ )

One of the notions she puts forth is that, in the seemingly impersonal world of business, one can communicate through the clutter with a more “personalized” approach. Seasoning your message, now and then, with little dollops of info on yourself, your achievements, even stuff on your family.

So, here goes: “My” movie opens later this week (April 4).

Leatherheads is the new George Clooney screwball comedy that embraces the early days of pro football (1925) as a colorful backdrop to a romantic triangle with co-stars Renee Zelwegger and The Office’s John Krasinski.

“My” movie?? Well, sure…after all, I'm in it. As an extra. Actually, more than an extra. I played the role of Assistant Coach of the Chicago Buffalos, the team Clooney’s Duluth Bulldogs play in the dramatic denouement-revealing game at the end of the film.

So if anyone out there in e-zine land is interested in reading more about my adventures on the film set – taking direction from George, for example – well, I won’t take up any more sacrosanct space in this missive…but you can access it here in a fun website created by another amateur thespian who also took part in the film: http://www.theleatherheads.com/KweskinJoel.html

(Then check out the Photo Album section and go to Album 5 and scroll down to see a caricature I did…which was finally presented to our star this past week when he made his whistle stopping tour through Salisbury, NC.)

I’m not sure I know what all this “personal” stuff through my e-zine is supposed to do. But, I suppose if it gets people talking either about me or to me, a little PR in my direction can’t hurt, right?

And if I can assist you, or anyone you know, with promotional needs – self or otherwise – let me strap on my leatherhead and get on it!

In the meantime, let’s huddle again the first Tuesday of next month for another bone crushing edition of “Not Your Usual Marketing Tips.”

Joel Kweskin

http://www.jdkmarketing.biz/

What Is Your USP?

What's your USP?

And, no, it has nothing to do with the US Postal Service.

It’s your “Unique Selling Proposition.” Or substitute the word Proposition with Proposal or Point.

Any way you say it, it’s what those three words say about your business that, theoretically, no one else can say.

Welcome to another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

Simply stated, your USP should – in your marketing materials, position papers, sales letters, perhaps even your slogan – reflect the contention that what you sell is unique, something your competition cannot or chooses not to promote…culminating in the decision by your customer to act by exploring and/or purchasing your product or service.

You may remember USP from Marketing 101. But, since Spring Training has begun this month down in Florida and Arizona, I’m reminded that it’s occasionally a good thing to re-familiarize oneself with the “fundamentals.”

Wikepedia further explains USP as a “marketing concept that was first proposed as a theory to explain a pattern among successful advertising campaigns (of the 1940s and 1950s). It states that such campaigns made unique propositions to the customer and that this convinced them to switch brands.

“The term was invented by Rosser Reeves (an account executive with former independent ad agency giant) Ted Bates & Company. Today the term is used in other fields or just casually to refer to any aspect of an object that differentiates it from similar objects…A number of businesses and corporations currently use USPs as a basis for their marketing campaigns.”

Jay Abraham, with a string of successful books on the “guerilla” ways of marketing, opines that, “Even while you creatively imitate others, remember that it's also important to be different. Distinguish your business or practice from all the rest. Make your enterprise special in the eyes of your customer or client. A USP is that distinct and appealing idea that sets you and your business, or practice, favorably apart from every other generic competitor.”

BusinessTown.com has a little more “tough love” message for you: “There may be very little difference between your product and your competitors’. But if you can't find a way to communicate uniqueness and connect it to a need of your target, you might as well quit fighting your competition and sell out to them.

“There are many different ways to stake out a position. Just remember, your position reflects your unique selling proposition, and it is what makes your offering more valuable to your customers than what's being offered by your competition.”

No doubt by now you may have taken a cold, hard look at what you do for a living and thought. “but my business is really no different than others in this field.”

That’s the challenge. But it’s not unmeet-able. There are things about your business you may not be able to see – the old “forest for the trees” deal. And that’s where it may take a professional marketing firm (ahem!) to help adjust your glasses for you…

And help truly, and memorably, distinguish you vis-à-vis your competition.

If you haven't done so by now, maybe it’s time you worked on your USP...ASAP.

Hope to chat you up again the first Tuesday of next month with another initials-laden serving of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips.

Joel Kweskin

The "R" Word

If you, like a good number of your friends, neighbors and – perhaps more importantly – your business associates, subscribe to the notion that our economy is either approaching or already in the throes of a recession, take a deep breath. Maybe we need to change the “R” word to the “O” word.

As in “Opportunity.”

Welcome to the February edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

I’m no economist, but I have seen The Ways of Things in my thirty-plus years of doing business, both on the corporate and service-provider sides. Think Stock Market. To re-paraphrase Isaac Newton, what goes down…must eventually go back up.

Here are some heartening observations I’ve gleaned lately by fellow marketing pundits.

Charlie Elberson, Wray Ward Laseter VP of Brand Development, notes in his blog:

“Thriving in hard times is especially gratifying (and certainly more attention-getting) because few can do it. Wisdom, courage, smarts – along with an ability to grasp new realities – these are prerequisites to getting through down times on top. Most important is a steely-eyed commitment to a plan.”

Among which are:

“• Increase share of mind. Increasing brand presence during a recession yields disproportionate increases in share of market. Why? You’re buying real estate in buyers’ minds while the competition is withdrawn. Smart.

• Simplify your world. Bet that your competitors will reduce the scale of their programs but not the scope, they’ll do less of everything. Now is a great time to do a few things really, really well.

• Get ready for the Big I (major initiative). Good times, like the bad, have a way of sneaking up on us. Start getting ready now to have a major initiative (or two) all set to go for when things improve.

Down time is a smart time to lay the groundwork for greater success tomorrow. When the sun’ll come out.”

Robert Midddleton, Internet-based marketing coach, in his weekly e-zine opines:

“Certain words trigger certain feelings. We hear the word recession in the media over and over, and each time it triggers a little fear, a little uncertainty. Before you know it, many people are making the recession a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“The economy is experiencing a bout of flu. But like the flu, it will eventually pass with minimal side effects. If you look at it like that, no problem. You take some precautions, but you don't lapse into hopelessness and despair. You can treat this like a wake up call. You, personally, can make a difference for you, your family and business. You can choose what you think and do. You can take creative action.

"Part of this is taking control of your marketing. You can't leave it to chance anymore. Those who practice proven marketing strategies will attract more business than those who don't - especially when times are tight. Don't let yourself be dragged down by talk of a recession. You can use a downturn as an opportunity to sharpen your marketing skills.”

Then again, you can always heed the words of Steve Forbes, publisher of the iconic business magazine that bears his late father’s name. When asked recently in an interview with The Charlotte Observer, are we headed into a recession, he answered:

“No. As a matter of fact, after the first quarter, the economy should surprise people with its strength. The Federal Reserve is still pumping up boatloads of money. The second and third quarters should come in around 2.5 and 3 percent (GDP growth). Next year I think we’re going to have problems, because the Fed can’t keep inflating, but for now the world is not coming to an end.”

There, Grumpy. Are you smiling yet..?

Check this space again the first Tuesday of next month for another boatload of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips.

Joel Kweskin

Just Wondering Department: Great game Sunday. But watching all those commercials at $2.7 million a pop, I couldn’t help but think – with much talk during this presidential race period about issues like poverty and outrageous health care costs – wouldn’t just one of those advertisers have made quite a PR statement by telling the public that they planned NOT to advertise on the Super Bowl and instead were taking that money and making a “Super” contribution to an appropriate charity/charities to help those in need..?

Resolutions

Welcome to Not Your Usual Marketing Tips -- your Online Marketing Ideas and Commentary Column Official Sponsor of 2008.

There, I’ve now claimed the first commercial “ownership” of a Year…

It’s the first month, and that begs the question: have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet? I mean from a marketing, advertising and promoting standpoint. (I could care less if you’ve vowed to lose weight; trust me, it’ll only come back by this time next year anyway…)

Since offering up this specific column thrice before, it’s worn well as universal and timeless commentary. So, as they say, if it ain’t broke…
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There’s a great scene in an old “Seinfeld” episode where Jerry has telephoned in reservations for a car rental. Except that when he arrives to pick up the car, he’s told there are none to be had. The girl at the counter explains that, for whatever bureaucratic reason, his rental was released to someone else. In his customary exasperated manner, Jerry then tries to “educate” her -- that although “it’s your business to MAKE the reservation…you also have to be able to HOLD the reservation..!”

It’s January of a New Year. From a marketing standpoint, presuming you’ve MADE your New Year’s resolutions, are you planning to actually HOLD them?

In no particular order, consider these 12 Resolutions for 2008 – one per month – vowing to proactively engage in at least one of them:

Guerilla Marketing: Think outside the box for ways to promote yourself. There are rules…and sometimes there are no rules.

Networking: Do more, by joining more…networks that is (associations, fraternal organizations, fellow hobbyists, etc.)

Publicity: Toot your own horn through such means as press releases; even if you think you’ve got nothing new to say, there’s a whole world out there that doesn’t know what you’re thinking…but would like to, or perhaps more importantly, needs to.

Positioning: All things being equal…what makes you “more” equal than others?

Seminars: Think you know it all? Well, there’s a good chance you do – to targeted markets with whom you wish to do business and promote yourself.

Newsletters: Share your ideas, broaden your constituency; send out industry-relevant information either as hard copy…or electronically (such as what you’re presently reading).

Trade Shows: Go to them, be in them, mingle within them, write a program article for them...

Event Marketing: Sponsor a cause, have an Open House; it’s good PR by “humanizing” your business.

The Newspaper: What a concept! For ideas, for client contact opportunities, for business references, don’t rely on the 11:00 PM TV news alone. Read the newspaper.

Greeting Cards: It doesn’t have to be Christmas to send them. Stay top of mind year-round, with Valentine’s Day, July 4th, Arbor Day – whatever! – as the “excuse.”

Postcards: Along with greeting cards, postcards are a fast, convenient, economical – and customized – way to let people know about your business (think realtors, financial services professionals, et al…).

Website: If you don’t have a site, get one. If you already have one, concentrate more on the text this time, by focusing on Keywords to help facilitate Search Engine Optimization. (You need to be found…before you’re read.)

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That’s enough pontificating for now…

Have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008. And we’ll see you again the first Tuesday of next month with another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing tips.

Joel Kweskin

Caricatures!

It's holiday gift-giving time. Now, you can do the fruitcake thing, the gift basket thing, the popcorn-in-a-tin thing or the gift certificate thing. But you might also want to consider giving a gift that is truly customized and personal.

Welcome to another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

Cartoonists have been lampooning politicians and royalty with devastating caricatures for over 300 years. This season you might wish to consider presenting a caricature from yourself. Not to devastate, however, but to tickle...

Caricatures make a great, customized gift for your clients or your favored customers...and certainly families and friends on the personal side. Caricatures of loyal (and long-standing) staff make great gifts as well, showing your appreciation for their dedicated service. Yours truly has done caricatures of individual staff members, framed and mounted on company walls. So it’s not only a unique, fun idea…it’s great for morale.

(If you’re new to this column, Yes, I do caricatures. And I’ve been doing them professionally – apart from my copywriting, conceptual and marketing strategy work – for, sheesh, three decades now.…)

Another popular means by which to utilize caricatures -- and no less a marketing tool than a corporate brochure or flyer -- is a Holiday Greetings card...customized to feature the illustrated likenesses of company officers and selected staff, and sent out to clients with a seasonal message thanking them for their business.

(See art above. If it cannot be opened for whatever reason, go to http://www.jdkmarketing.biz/caricaturesbyjoel/ for a look at that one, and others...)

Naturally, caricatures can be applied to ad specialty items as well -- on coffee mugs, beer decanters, tension sqeeze'em toys, and the like. And regardless of season, caricatures can enliven collateral marketing materials, ad campaigns, publicity packages, PowerPoint presentations and trade shows

If you've run out of ideas as we near the holidays, give a thought to caricatures...the "art" of gift-giving.

And in the meantime, frame the first Tuesday of next month for another masterpiece sampling of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips.

Joel Kweskin

Publish or Perish?

“Publish or perish.” That’s the mantra in post-graduate academia. To be taken seriously as a scholar, one needs to write a paper and have it published in some scholarly publication.

Well, it’s really not all that much different once you get out into the business world of the entrepreneur.

Welcome to another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

I had a nice chat with “sales growth” guru Bob Janet (http://www.bobjanet.com/) about the benefits of having his many articles on sales growth and marketing picked up by various publications representing a potpourri of industries. And how his speaking engagements have increased due to the cachet and presumed expertise – certainly earned in his case – that accompany one’s byline in a commercially or professionally established publication.

Other folks I know who are published – regularly, and that’s key – include Harvey Smith (http://www.carolinabusinesscoach.com/) periodically in The Charlotte Observer; business trainer and hiring consultant Denise Altman (http://www.altmaninitiative.com/) in Greater Charlotte Biz; IT marketing “maven” Sally Phillips (http://www.mariner-usa.com/) who skirts around the literal definition of “publishing” by appearing, vocally, on Charlotte’s local NPR station, WFAE-90.7 FM, with personal essays and observations; PR pro Patricia Pollack (http://www.myteamofexperts.com/) with an ongoing column in The Business Journal; and web marketing SEO queen Esther Kane (http://www.eckweb.com/), who offers her professional musings in a blog, along with her monthly newsletter.

When you write what you know, it translates to readers that you know what you write. That’s a glib way of saying there is a built-in respectability that comes with the distinction of having your words “archived” in a forum presented for public review. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to have a degree in journalism, either. (To my knowledge, the only one of the individuals I’ve noted who do have such a degree is…me.)

If you can get your knowledge down in a reasonably syntax-friendly way, you can write for the media. (And if you can’t or prefer not to tempt the grammar gods, there are professionals who can “ghost write” for you. Such as, again…yours truly.)

Getting selected media to accept your musings may not happen the very first time out of the gate, but it is do-able. Especially with said selected media always looking for informative – and entertaining – subjects that will help fill space and provide their subscribers with good, value-added material that reflects well on them.


Joel Kweskin

Alumni Affiliations

I caught an interesting article in The Charlotte Observer about how college alumni – as depicted in this case by a popular Midwestern NCAA athletic division represented by those living and working in the Charlotte area – are keeping the old “ties that bind” by continuing to connect through networking.

Welcome to another edition of “Not Your Usual Marketing Tips” from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

The article discusses how “In the heart of ACC country, a group of transplants has found value in networking with fellow graduates of Big Ten universities.

“Neil Swiacki, 48, made his way to Charlotte 41/2 years ago after stints in Massachusetts, Indiana and Michigan, where he graduated from Michigan State in 1980.

“Now he heads the Big 10 Biznet, a Charlotte networking group. It's for people who've graduated from the 10 Midwestern schools – plus Penn State – and want ways to find new business contacts.

“ ‘There’s a lot of value to locating people with similar backgrounds,’ he said.

“The group is emblematic of the wave of newcomers from Midwestern and Northeastern states. Of the estimated 80,000 people from outside the Carolinas who moved to Mecklenburg and surrounding counties from 2004 to 2005, 10 percent are from the Midwest and 28 percent from the Northeast…U.S. Census data found.

“…Other business groups form around college alumni associations as well as race or ethnicity, regional geography, specific trades or professions, and other special interests. Even a dog fanciers’ group can turn into business networking opportunities for participants…

“Charlotte is still very much about relationship-building – people want to do business with people they know.”

Now I’ll assume that many if not most of you already belong to business networking groups. Chances are they’re the types that generically meet in restaurants or coffee shops and are comprised of disparate businesses. But this Big Ten thing is a great way to expand on the BNI’s of the world and their offshoots.

Maybe you have a favorite pastime or pursuit that can be parlayed into a group of similarly interested individuals. This adds real passion to the business proceedings that those customary networking groups are, by definition, lacking. And you, of course, get to decide whether or not to “lock out” your particular competition.

Check out these types of associations or clubs online or through friends and neighbors. And if there isn’t an organization, for instance, already devoted to fans of the Chicago White Sox, start one – like I did.

(Of course, I’m the only member so far…)


Joel Kweskin