Posted by JulieD on November 16, 2008 under Advertising, Marketing | 
Think Twitter doesn’t affect your business? Johnson & Johnson did.
This weekend Motrin became the #1 topic on Twitter. More specifically their web-ad about Babywearing (you know, slings, front carriers etc.) made them the #1 trending topic on Twitter…and not in a good way. In fact, they they managed to offend both people who wear their babies in slings and people who don’t.
By 3pm on Sunday there were:
Every few minutes there were 60 more tweets on the topic.
But there was no response from anyone at Johnson & Johnson or McNeil Health Care Group.
I’m guessing this is going to all over the business news, if not the mainstream news by Monday morning.
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Are people Twittering about your business? What are they saying? Do you even know how to find out?
Hint: go here and enter your company’s name.
Posted by JulieD on November 10, 2008 under Marketing |
This morning my local radio station interviewed some of the people attending and organizing the Bench2Business conference, which is aimed at “aspiring and established scientists and entrepreneurs of color”.
Everyone they interviewed was really positive. No-one wasted time complaining about the inequities of the past or present, but instead talked about creating opportunities and role models.
Even more tellingly, one of the organizers sidestepped the moral issues altogether and pressed on to economics, saying,
You just cannot leave 30% of your society sitting on a side line and think you’re going to drive an economy in this country.
see original article
See? That’s a message people can rally around, because it promises something for everyone. He’s saying, “no matter what your position on race or equality or affirmative action, or politics or economic theory, you will be richer if you espouse my cause.”
If you want to persuade people to agree with you, buy your product, espouse your ideas, let them see what’s in it for them.
Posted by JulieD on November 7, 2008 under Down Is Up |
…Has an equal and opposite reaction.
It’s true in physics, and OK it’s slightly less true in business but bear with me.
In every downturn there are opportunities for those who are willing to look for them.
Today I noticed a local furniture store that was going out of business after 81 years. It’s sad and awful for the people involved, and you and I could spend a lot of time wallowing in an analysis of the terrible direction the economy is taking.
Or we could think: who can benefit from this?
It seem to me that even in the death of a furniture store there is opportunity.
Opportunity for:
- The owners of a furniture removal company, who can get a couple of trucks down to the store on Saturday morning and offer good deals to people who are scooping up floor samples and trying to balance couches on the back of their pick-up trucks in the rain.
- The owners of a van rental company, who can make quick, short-term rentals from the parking lot.
- A local interior designer who can offer a tip-sheet on how to make the new furniture work, or who can sell a booklet about design matters, or who can hand out coupons for discounts on her services.
What is going on around you and are you flexible enough to make it work for you?
Posted by JulieD on November 6, 2008 under How-To, Marketing, online |
Want to build a huge list of pre-qualified prospects? Take tip from the President-Elect.
In trying to figure out how Barak Obama won the election, the pundits agree that his organization was great a using new media to keep in touch with and build their base.
So how exactly did they get people to sign up?
One brilliant example came before Obama announced his pick for his running mate. The campaign gave people the chance to be the first to know who he had picked by signing up for text messages or an email — no more waiting around for traditional news outlets to tell them the news. All you had to do was give the campaign a way to contact you and you could get a jump on even the media in-crowd. Who wouldn’t love that?
Of course, this meant you were added to their database, but people didn’t seem to care because, pay attention now, they were getting something they valued in return.
Is there something you can offer your potential clients in exchange for their contact info?
Can you offer them a “buy one, get one 50% off” deal on their first purchase? Can you give them a free, exclusive, special report (or ‘white paper’) when they sign up for your newsletter? Can you give them something that will provide real value for them in exchange for their permission to keep in touch?
Create value, create releationships, create business.
