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How COVID Changed Marketing

Entrepreneurs Think Tank – EP 4 – What had happened was….

Having an idea for a podcast and actually launching the podcast are two entirely different task. Especially when you are teaching yourself how to do everything. Not because you have to teach yourself, but because you know in the long run it will pay off to know how to do it.

We lost a show! It was devastating to have to accept that there was nothing that we could do to save the episode, but it was a great lesson. Things do not always go smoothly….even when you plan them out “perfectly.” As an entrepreneur, you just have to be able to roll with the punches. That is exactly what we are doing.

Listen to this episode about the loss of episode 4 and let us know what you think in the comments below. Have you ever lost something like this? How did you react?

4 Reasons Why the Pokèmon Go Craze is GREAT for Entrepreneurs 

People have been found playing PokemonGo in the delivery room.

App developers around the world are sure to be in awe of the Pokèmon Go craze that has excited people around the globe. No one could have predicted the volume of interest in a gaming app even if they had the best predictive data of all time. The game has nostalgia, challenge, and a little bit of new technology all rolled in to one. This seems to be a winning combination!Here are some recent facts about the game:

  1. Initial release date was July 6, 2016.
  2. The game was developed between a partnership with Nintendo and Niantic.
  3. Nintendo has sold more than 277 million Pokémon games to date, over 21.5 billion trading cards in ten languages, and made seventeen feature films over the past two decades.
  4. Pokèmon actually means Pocket Monster.
  5. In less than a week after its release, Pokémon GO is reportedly bigger than Tinder in the US.
  6. According to SimilarWeb the Usage Time of Pokémon GO is taking up a lot of its user’s time. On July 8th, the app was being used an average of 43 minutes, 23 seconds a day. This is higher than other popular apps like Whatsapp, Instagram, Snapchat, and Messenger.
  7. In less than a week, Pokèmon Go has had 6 million mentions on Twitter. (Adweek)
  8. According to Spreadfast, the most popular cities for the game are Culver City, Calif.; Houston; Chicago; San Antonio; and Manhattan were the buzziest locations, according to the company.
  9. Several brands have been caught tweeting about the game. Check out tweets from Southwest Airlines, KFC France, Sprint, Walmart captured in the article from Adweek.
  10. Nintendo has sold more than 277 million Pokemon games to date, over 21.5 billion trading cards in 10 languages, and made 17 feature films over the last 20 years. Time will tell how Pokemon Go matches up to those numbers. (Pocket-Lint)

If you are confused on how to play and the terminology being used, Pocket-Lint has the best write up I have seen to date. Spend a few minutes here to get a better understanding.

If you are an entrepreneur, here is why you should pay attention to this phenomenon:

  1. Follow The Eyeballs – As Gary Vaynerchuck says, you have to figure out how to Day Trade Attention and at this moment, the world is paying attention to this game at the moment. This is one of the best news jacking opportunities that a business owner can jump on at the moment. Remember to add the hashtag #PokèmonGo to your post.
  2. Promote!  Promote! Promote! – You can create a promotion around the Pokèmon brand and get awesome reach without having to pay to boost your post. Many are advertising the fact that they have a Pokèmon stop near their business.  The discounts that they are giving to patrons are extremely creative and a lot of fun. This type of promotion is a great way to introduce yourself to a new audience.
  3. Market Research – The Pokèmon craze gives you a sense of what those around the globe are finding interesting.  Game play, nostalgia, mobile, getting outside, learning about a variety of landmarks, and the list could go on and on. Take note of how you could apply this to your business. Do you have an app that you are creating? Can you incorporate some of these elements in to your app? Can you add some sort of game play to a promotion that you are running? Now is the time to think out of the box and capitalize on this new platform that is only going to grow.
  4. Stand Out From The Crowd – Pokèmon Go is one of the first virtual reality mobile games that have been successfully created. This is the first of many more to come. To date, we are already seeing some copy cat apps trying to ride the wave. If you feel something in your gut, go for it.  Pokèmon Go actually started from employees at Google working on their side project.  Ultimately, Google decided to let them go because they thought that it would be better for the growth of their company to be a stand alone.  As they say, the rest is history.

Pokèmon Go is actually celebrating 20 years.  Be sure that you check out their celebratory website and post your favorite memories from Pokèmon over the years using the hashtag #Pokemon20.

Take a look at this video from The Verge that will really take you back through the Pokemon history.

The Business of Beyoncé

It seems as though Beyoncé is on top of the world at the moment. She has managed to take a very private situation between her and her husband all the way to the bank. As the saying goes…she has turned lemons into lemonade.

Let me start by stating that I am a HUGE Beyoncé fan. My bias tends to swing in her favor (admittedly).

What I do want to share in this post is the business take-a-ways that we can all learn from and apply to our businesses immediately.

TOP QUALITY PRODUCT 

Before you take anything to market, you have to make sure your ducks are in order. Meaning, you have researched, tested, and reviewed each and every aspect about what you are about to share with the world. You may notice that Beyoncé releases her albums when and how she wants to. This creative control makes it easier for her to live with the success or failure of what she puts out.

Now, I want to relate this to our organizations.

There are times that I have seen entrepreneurs put out their product or service still needing work on the back end. For example, you have your product images, but you do not have a way for people to place their order. Or, you do not have any good images at all and you are simply hoping for someone to support you. It’s not about perfection, but it should be as close to perfect as you can get it.

UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE

One thing that Beyoncé knows is her audience. She understands what her audience will and will not withstand from her brand. This is the reason that she can now release a song or an album in the middle of the night and it still break records. This is also why she can put her work exclusively on Tidal for a period of time and still eventually break records. Lemonade was released on February 6, 2016 with a limited release strategy. In true genius fashion, Beyoncé used her Super Bowl time to not only make a statement, but she also announced her tour dates.

The BeyHive (as Beyoncé’s community is affectionately called) has become true brand ambassadors for Beyoncé and anything that she puts out. This is the true benefit of developing a community. Now, we are not all Beyoncé. We can not sparsely attend to our communities and think that they are going to gain any sense of loyalty to us.

Pay attention to what your community wants from you and what you want from your community. Add value to your community and it will add value right back to you.

EXECUTION

Many of us have a variety of ideas for how we would like to follow our passion and make a living. The problem is that we do not take the time necessary to bring thes ideas to life. The difference between success and remaining average is in the details of the execution.

Set goals and build a strategy of execution towards those goals. When you set measurable goals, it is much easier to line up what you need to do to get to your desired outcome.

If Beyoncé has time in her day to execute a new album, the videos, a clothing line, and a global tour, we should also be willing to put in the work necessary to bring our ideas to fruition. Beyoncé does have a team that many of us are not fortunate enough to have at the moment. But, from her interviews over the years, it’s easy to see that she has a specific routine for buckling down when it’s time to focus. The lesson here is to have laser focus when it comes to executing your ideas.

The best results come from when you are able to tune out the clutter. If you are spending hours on Facebook when you need to be focusing on your business, then it may be time to make some changes in your daily schedule. This all depends on the level of growth you desire. Focus in on what it will take to reach your goals, develop a strategy, and implement flawlessly.

THE NUMBERS 

Ivy Park – Launched on April 14, 2016 and will be sold in North America in Top Shop, Nordstrom, and Hudson Bay. With items ranging from $50.00 to $265.00, Mashable reports that this is the most popular fashion brand on Instagram in terms of engagement before it even launched. The video used to launch the brand ask the question, ‘Where is your park?’

Lemonade – Beyoncé’s latest work sold approximately 200K on the first day. When it is all said and done, the album priced higher then most at 17.99, is expected to sale upwards of 600K albums. 

The Formation World Tour – The tour kicked off on April 27, 2016 in Miami. Originally slated for 41 shows, Beyoncé was set to make close to 50 million dollars. Now, with the add on of the additional shows the estimated amount that Beyoncé will bring home from the concert alone could reach 75 million.


MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 27: In this handout photo provided by Parkwood Entertainment, Beyonce performs during the opening night of the Formation World Tour at Marlins Park on April 27, 2016 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Parkwood Entertainment via Getty Images)

WTRMLN WTR – 10 days after Lemonade, Beyoncé announced that she was an equity partner in a 3 year old startup that makes cold-pressed watermelon water. The water was featured in the Ivy Park launch video and is also sold at the venues that Formation performances are taking place in. So, Beyoncé is not only making money from the concert, she is making money from product sales. Can you say “cha-ching?”

In 2015, Bey brought home 54.5 million and in 2014 she sat on Forbes Celebrity Top 100 at 115 million.
 

 

 

 

Entrepreneurs Think Tank Launches on Periscope

Entrepreneurs Think Tank BannerPeriscope has presented many benefits to those that take advantage of the power of live streaming. From humanitarian work to increasing profits, we now have the ability to take our efforts globally. Recently, the team at Selsi Enterprises was discussing how great it would be to bring entrepreneurs together on a regular basis to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of entrepreneurship.

We presented the idea to Parachute TV on Periscope and a few months later, we got the green light to bring the show to life.  Our first show went great and the numbers were great for our first time on their channel. We had a quiet audience in the background, but hope to bring our audiences in to the discussion. The mission of the show is for entrepreneurs to help other entrepreneurs reach their full potential.

We did a lot to prepare for the show from checking the lighting to prepping the guest. We also did a little prepromotion for the show. Prepromotion is one of this most important task to do when launching an effort like this one.  Your followers may not realize what you have planned and may miss being there for the live broadcast.

I am not going to spoil the content that you are going to see in the video, but feel free to comment about additional information that you would have asked our guest. These seasoned entrepreneurs are open to sharing all that they have learned along the way.

Thank you to our friends at Sis and Moon’s for letting us come in to their space.  Follow Sis an Moon’s on all social media platforms from their website www.sisandmoons.com.

Periscope Summit Will Be Here Very Soon

periscope speaker adjustedThe Periscope Community Summit will be here very soon. If you are not familiar with this event, take a moment to look at their website by clicking here. This event will bring together many of the top Periscopers from all around the world. Although the programming is sure to be interesting, I am most excited about connecting with other individuals that are as passionate about live streaming as I am. If you are passionate about what live streaming can do for your brand, I hope that you will join me in San Francisco.

PURCHASE TICKETS BY CLICKING HERE

Be sure that you are following me on Periscope to catch all of the latest news and information on live streaming and how to #GetNoticed in your business. @Selsi_Ent

The Business of Being ‘On The Run’

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For those that are Beyonce and JayZ fans, the ‘On the Run’ tour has been epic. The marketing, the build up, and the actual show could not have been planned any better.

Let’s start with the trailer that introduced the concert.

Originally, this was never intended to be turned in to a real movie. But, it was done so well that fans have actually ‘demanded’ that the duo create a full movie out of the idea that was created in the trailer. Don’t you wish your random ideas would turn into something profitable where you never intended to earn a profit. Currently, this video has received almost 8.9 million views on YouTube.

Next, the apparel….

Photo Credit CNN  The ski mask worn in the trailer are now carried out as a theme throughout the show. As a marketer, the consistency of the look that they have developed throughout the entire show is the key to branding.  People have a tendency to want to veer from the brand look and feel, but when you stick to that which you have created the results can be epic.

The dollars and cents…

Mr. & Mrs. Carter have not only generated a lot of money for themselves, but they have also created a lot of cash flow for the cities that they have paid a visit too. In Atlanta, there were 50K+ people in attendance.  That means many of the people went out to dinner, purchased new outfits, and bought other items that they may not have normally purchased if a concert of this size was not coming to town.  Also, because the concert was not going to all major cities, you had a lot of people in hotels.  There was money spent by concert goers inside and outside of the city limits.

The rumors….

Many say that the Cater’s marriage is one the rocks.  Who knows if this is true or not, but it sales a lot of magazines and causes people to tune in to news segments that theymay not normally tune in to.  I have to admit that I am guilty of paying attention to what is being said about the Carter’s. All in all, they had some flirty moments during the concert and I am hoping that it means that none of the rumors are true.  But, Beyonce did have a lot of passion when she was singing the song below.

The marketing nuggets…

There are always some take a ways that you can apply to business.  From this, I would suggest the following:

1. Market your own way – The trailer to the concert was such a huge hit that it is now set to become a movie.  How cool is that!?!?

2. Consistency in your brand – From beginning to end, you know when you are seeing something from the OTR tour.  Mimic that approach in your own business.

3. Strive for reaching new levels – It was decided early on (against the suggestions of many naysayers) that this tour would be a stadium tour only.  They stepped their game up from arenas and moved in to stadiums.  Take your business to stadium status this year! Don’t waist anymore time being mediocre.

The Future of Marketing

Businesswoman standing on a ladder looking through binocularsWhen you sit and think about the direction that marketing is going in, you can’t leave out social and mobile. I think that we all can agree that it is not a passing fad. A marketing/pr strategic plan that does not include these two elements is doomed for mediocracy.

The future winners will be those that can develop super creative content that can break through all of the clutter. Right now agencies are losing talented, out of the box thinking people to the Facebook’s and Google’s of the world. I think the future will be such that many big brands move away from the BIG agencies. The creative genius can now be found in freelancers, smaller agencies, and proper development of internal staff.

Here is a great article about Keith Weed’s, chief marketing for the Unilever brand, view on the future of marketing.

What do you see about the future of marketing/pr? Are BIG agencies going to remain the staple for BIG brands? Can brands train their own people do that they can save a chunk of their budget?

Finding Inspiration from the Window Washers

Inspiration can even come from window washers.

Inspiration can even come from window washers.

You have heard the saying, ‘Inspiration can come from the strangest places.’ Well, I can completely agree! As someone who writes a good bit for clients, sometimes you just need a new perspective. A new way of looking at something that can help make the piece that is being communicated even more interesting and compelling.  You want to dive deep to bring out the reasons that your target audience needs to pay attention to this information.

This is where the window washers come in. You have the same product, service, or the same ‘view’ from the office window.  But, on a regular basis, it is important to take a step back and clean the windows. Look at the product, service, or ‘view’ from a new perspective.  Pretend it is your first time seeing the product or service.  What is your “first” reaction?

Your reaction may be that this product/service needs to be revamped.  Maybe you were going down the wrong path.  Or, just like a new element can be added in to the landscape of your view out of the window, there may be something new with your product/service that you are not paying attention to.  This may be something that should be highlighted in a better way.

So take a note from the page of the window washers. Every so often, take a step back for the sake of clarity. Let this fresh perspective guide you in freshening up your marketing and communication efforts.

In the comments below, let us know where you find inspiration.  You never know, you could give someone else the idea that they need to finish their project successfully!

Mom 2.0 Summit — We’ll Be There!

This is one of the top summits to attend for all things related to Mommy Blogging. As an official Mompreneur, we love connecting great brands with the mom audiences. This will be our first year attending this summit, but we are sure it will not disappoint.  The connections made at a summit like this will help us to better serve the needs of our clients.

Take a look at the intro video: