| |
Having spent the last three days cleaning off the surfaces in my office known as my desk, I’m mad as hell. Now I don’t care whether you are of the clean- or messy-desk-camp. That’s not the issue here. What’s important, even critical, is why I’m so angry. Looking at everything I sent to the shredder it’s sad to see how much time, energy and money is wasted by so many who employ marketing tactics that are clearly “old school.” The economy has changed. The world and how we all work has changed. And yet, businesses, for the most part, continue to engage in practices that were, at best, marginal even three - five years ago. So, I come to you all with one request: it’s time to stop the madness. Let me tell you how to do this.
Remember Mr. Blackwell
Remember when women were urged to wear “man-tailored” suits and those ridiculous little bow ties? The philosophy was that if we dressed like the male-dominated business world we would be taken seriously. Thankfully business women can now dress with an individual sense of style and still kick some serious business butt. However, many business’ “attire” seem to lag behind. Starting with your identity (logo, cards, company name), does your corporate image represent an impressive style or scream, “my kid did it on the home computer’? And speaking of your cards, they serve as a mini-billboard about your company and capabilities so an individual style is ok. But please don’t let that get in the way of people’s ability to find you when and how they choose (phone, email, web and street address at the very least).
Offer No Sympathy
When Mick Jagger sings “Please allow me to introduce myself,” in Sympathy for the Devil I’m certain he never thinks about the 1000’s of people who give introductory elevator speeches at networking events each day. I am also positive the Bad Boy of Rock ‘n’ Roll would run screaming from the room if he had to endure even one-one-hundredth of the those intros. So think before you go out to deliver that next company commercial. Make sure it’s in language that’s meaningful to the people who are going to listen to you – and remember, practice not only makes perfect, it gets you remembered.
Honor the King of the Trees
I watched with horror in the second episode of Lord of The Rings as the Hobbits battled the ancient trees because it reminded me of a recurring nightmare: I’m walking in the forest and one tree says to another, “Get her, she took out Uncle Louie’s side of the family with all the paper she used!” What does my nightmare have to do with any of your marketing? Take a look at your inbox, especially after a networking event or two. See all the useless information that people have sent to you, all in the guise of “just following up?” And we’re not talking just a note or two. In many cases we’re talking full-blown capabilities kits! What a waste. And even more tragic are the letters that start out, “It was a pleasure to meet you at the event . . .” when you never even spoke! Now take a look at your outbox or to-do list. Were you planning on sending those unwanted missives to people? Don’t do it. Wait until you have some kind of relationship where it “makes sense” to have some kind of contact.
Stop the Insanity
A recent conversation with my 12-year-old niece divided the world into people that change buttons on new clothes and those that don’t. Of course there’s nothing wrong with either camp yet I’ve found this is a topic that garners two distinct remarks when asked: “Oh, I would never” vs. “Sure, I do it all the time.” Now there are no rules or guidelines to dictate the who, when or how buttons should be changed out. It’s a mater of personal taste. Well, gang, marketing has new rules. Its time to take a long hard look at your marketing wardrobe (messages, materials, look, feel, activities) and determine what your clients, prospects and potential partners care about. It’s time to stop the insanity of the unwanted and unasked blindly landing on everyone’s desk. Or email box. It only adds more clutter. It gets you nowhere. It wastes your money. And, most importantly it might make a prospect really, really angry. And that means no sale which will probably make your very very crazy.
Copyright Randi B Enterprises, Inc., January, 2004. All rights reserved.
|
