Did you get Elfed?????

According to Advertising Age, they are the ‘Little Elves That Could.’ If you were not one of the 26.4 million visitors to the Office Max Season Site, you really missed out on something very hilarious. The OfficeMax Elf Yourself campaign left the Whopper Freakout campaign in the dust. Here are the stats….

123 million elves created.
Nearly 1 in 10 Americans visited the site.
By December, the site ranked N0. 55 among all websites.
If you add up the time spent on the Elf site, it total 2,614 years.

This is a viral marketing campaign at it’s best. The concept was created at Toy, a New York advertising agency. The echo effect of this site was like one that has not been experienced in quite some time.

The real question is, how can you relate this to your small business. In order to do this, it is necessary to look at the lessons learned by Office Max and what they were trying to achieve. According to Bob Thacker, VP of Marketing and Advertising for Office Max, the company wanted to build brand awareness. They were looking to warm up their image and not appear so stark.

The keys to success for this effort are as follows:

Make it personal. Personalization really drives people to visit a web site over and over again. It becomes part of an individual’s everyday routine. This tactic will work especially well in the healthcare, wellness, and beauty industries.

Do not count out your older audience. 40% of all visitors to the ElfYourself website were 55 or older. This is a demographic that you would expect not to take to a viral marketing campaign.

Offer up some fun. All advertising should be looked at as intrusive. People are bombarded with numerous messages all day long. At least if you plan in invading, make it fun. Bob Thacker at Office Max says, “If you’re going to crash the party, bring some champagne with you.”

21 January 2008. Jonathan Lemonnier, Advertising Age

Have you crafted your Elevator Speech?

If you are a small business owner, chances are you run in to people everyday that have never heard of your business, do not know who you are, and frankly do not care. This is where your elevator speech comes in to the picture.

An elevator speech was coined from the idea of ‘you only have a couple of minutes on an elevator with what could be your next client.’ In that time frame, you should be able to introduce yourself and your business. And most importantly, why your business is of importance to this individual.

This prepared speech must grab attention and say a lot in only a few words. What should I say, you ask? You should speak about your core message. You should determine what your niche is and what problems your business is able to solve. You should also be able to describe what makes you different from someone else in the same industry.

This speech does not have to be used in an elevator literally. This prepared and memorized (yes I said memorized…….that means you have to practice it) speech is great to use at networking functions, the grocery store, the office supply store, the doctor’s office…….anywhere you are able to get someone’s attention for 2 to 3 minutes. At the conclusion of your well delivered elevator speech, do not forget to give the individual your business card. If the conversation went well, do not be afraid to ask for their contact information. The fortune is in the follow up.

So, practice the delivery of your elevator speech in the mirror. Think about what questions or objections someone may come up with once they hear your speech. Do not be afraid to speak to people about your business. You never know if your business is something that could really have a positive impact on their life.

Finally, in order to make this work, you need to practice the exercise. Set a goal for yourself. For example, decide that you are going to try your elevator speech out on 3 people per day. Monitor your results. See what works and does not work. Keep track of your contacts made and do not forget to follow up. You can not be afraid of rejection.

I look forward to feedback. Please feel free to post your results……good or bad. Dialogue is the best way to learn and improve.

I am attaching a link from business week that puts visuals to this concept. Take a few minutes to scroll through the presentation.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/06/0618_speaking_business/index_01.htm-CIPCZQX01e09cff57=0000bd01c17d08c700000000

Take Control of Your Own Happiness

We all know that we are not guaranteed another day on this Earth. But, the real question is……are we living that way? With the coming of a new year, we all make new years resolutions to do better in some way. Some of us want to loose weight; some of us want to be in a better financial position, and so on and so on. The problem is that more then likely we will not stay committed to that idea of ‘it is a new year, so I need to create a new me.’

Let this be the year that you make the necessary changes in your life to improve your self, your soul, and your well being. At the end of the year, you want to be able to answer the question, ‘Am I better off now then I was one year ago?’

Stress can be detrimental to making an effort towards progress. John 14:27 says, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.’ Did you know that 90% of all doctors’ visits can be attributed to stress? Many times, the reason an individual is having trouble sleeping, plagued with back aches, feeling tired, or depressed has a lot to do with being over stressed.

Proverbs 14:30 says, ‘A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. So, here are some final thoughts on making 2008 a better year then 2007:

Do not give in to circumstances.
Control your approach to life.
Do not take life to serious.
Do not spend time around toxic people.
Do not give someone else the power to steel your joy.
Do not continue to feed in to those negative emotions.
Do not even, for one second, waste time having a negative attitude. It can always be worse.

And, yes…..I am going to have to listen to my own advice.

If you had 24 hours to live …….

Can you imagine getting the news that you only had 24 hours to live??? What would you do, who would you tell ‘I LOVE YOU’ to and what would you eat??

Typically life is not kind enough to give us any type of warning as to when our time is up here on this Earth. So, the best thing to do is to live each day as if it were your last. Think about what you did today, what you wanted to do, who you got angry at, who you said ‘I LOVE YOU’ to, who you forgave, who you helped…..would you be satisfied with your day if it were your last?? For many, the answer will be no.

I think that the challenge is to now figure out how you can live your best life. How you can live your life without regrets. Not worrying what anyone else thinks or says about you. Life is way to short and you only get one shot!!!

Life Questions ……….

Let me ask you a question…..Would you live your life differently if you knew that there was no such thing as Heaven and Hell? Would you live your life differently if you knew that the idea of God was the figment of someones imagination in order to keep society in line?

Church and religion have now become very big business. It almost takes away from the true meaning of religion. When trying to determine your purpose in life, one typically aligns that purpose with goals and ideas of success. One also considers how they are going to reach their goals and the level of success that they are hoping to achieve. But, if you are trying to walk the straight and narrow to obtain your definition of success and you know that many have not walked the straight and narrow to achieve their success………..is it OK to question the theory of God and the idea that just because you act in a moral and ethical way that God will reward you with the success that you would like to achieve and that God would reward you with the ability to live out what you feel is your purpose in life. Does God owe you the success that you think that you deserve?

Are we really suppose to believe that God, as kind as he or she is, would want so much suffering to take place? Are we to believe that faith is the only answer when there is not answer?

Maybe, just maybe, the answer is to create your own success…….by any means necessary.

Now, I am not one that is going to take a chance on the idea that the theory of God is a hoax, but there is nothing wrong with being a little inquisitive when it comes to things such as your soul and eternal life.

Co-written By: Marquis Henderson

Out of the Box Thinking

Now marketers are having to be more and more creative to get the attention of the consumer. The average consumer is bombarded with message after message all throughout their day. People have trained themselves to tune out those unwanted messages.

The key is to first clearly define the person that is actually going to buy your product or service. Then, cleverly create a message that is going to speak directly to that individual. Unless you have a huge marketing budget, then speaking to the masses is out of the question.

So, the real question is……….is there really any such thing as “Out of the Box Thinking?” Or, has it all already been done and we as marketers just have to hope that we get in front of enough people at the right moment in time for a positive buying experience to occur.

The Diving Tayler

Take a look at my oldest child. Time goes by so fast. It is hard to believe that she was just on the inside of my stomach six years ago. As a mother you really want to give your child the world and protect them from everything. Each time she would take a leap into the pool, it really would make me extremely nervous. I could just forsee something bad happening that I do not even want to put into words. But, I do realize that as a good parent you do have to know when to let go. So, although this is small, this is a moment that a mother is letting her daughter grow up.

HP Personal Again: Jay-Z Commerical

Hip hop has affected marketing as we know it in a big way. The hip hop movement, life style, or industry….whichever you prefer….is here to stay. When somone can make it from Marcy Projects to HP, we know that the world will never be the same. The Hip Hop affect will be explored further on this blog as it relates to marketing. Sprite recently announced that they were going to pull away from the use of Hip Hop. It will be interesting to see how their sales are affected. Stay tuned …….

The Future of Newspapers to Advertising

Advertising in the newspaper is not what it used to be. I can remember a time when almost everyone sat down with their paper and read it from front to back to see what was going on in the world. Now, it is not that way. People in general are very busy. We only want to read the headlines now. Not to mention the younger generations………they do not think about picking up a newspaper.

It is my thought that the main newspapers are not worth their cost in advertising (unless you have an endless post of money). For the small business owner, this is not where I would recommend putting your advertising dollars. It does not provide the ROI that would justify its use.

If newspapers are something that you would want to include in your media mix, I would go with the niche news publication. People are still reading items that pertain to their specific interest. There are many neighborhood news publications, business journal, and trade publications that may best suit your needs. I would also look to see if the newspaper that you would like to use has a good website. This may be the way to go to reach the most readers when they want to be reached.

The key to making this successful is clearly defining your target market. Once that is done, put yourself in easy view of the target, create a good message, and hope for the best.

The Importance of the Right Product

It does not matter if an organization hires the best CMO or the best marketing staff – if the product is not what the consumer desires, the chances for great success are limited. So, how actively are you watching the market? Are the consumers looking for what you have to offer?

In this world of internet marketing, marketing is no longer about one-way communication. The key is engagement. How many times can you make contact with your prospective customer? Chat and instant messaging must now be a part of your business environment. People are busy and they are looking for instant gratification.

Constant, ongoing research must be done to make sure you are offering the right product at the right price point. I am not suggesting that you as a business owner go out and spend thousands on highly scientific research, but I do think that it is important to ask people that you are meeting about your business. Some questions to ask may be shaped like, “Do you have a need for my product or service” or “What forms of advertisement do you notice the most?” This will help you in understanding the psychology of the person that you are trying so hard to reach.

The best method that I have to constantly remind myself about is the KISS method (Keep it simple stupid). Sometimes this is hard to do as marketers, but it is usually the best possible way to market to the consumer.

Happy Marketing!!!