The Morning Routine

So, this is just some curiosity from me. I want to hear from everyone what podcasts you listen to while reading the news in the morning, on your commute to the office etc.

I have a long list of shows that I listen to, but am always on the lookout for new ones. So on the bus while I catch up on Wired, SEOmoz, and Fast Company, I listen to Adam Carolla, Larry Miller, Stuff You Should Know, Remember When, or any number of other shows.

So what do you listen to?

Here is a shot of what my podcast list looks like today:

I want my G-TV

Kind of funny that there has been a lot of talk this week about streaming media, most notably Google TV.

Part of the reason I find this so interesting is that Google TV was the focus of the mid-term exam for Consumer Behavior class this week. Some of my take-aways from digging into this are below.

As a disclaimer, I canceled cable about a year and half or so ago, once Netflix started streaming through the PS3. I have a PS3 and Wii that we stream Netflix to, and I have a VGA to HDMI cable that I use to hook up my MacBook Pro to my television as well, so we have been streaming for quite some time, and we all love it, not missing cable at all to this point. I guess that makes me a prime candidate for one of these boxes...we'll have to see.

Market Segmentation & Relationship Marketing
Google will have to very specifically define their marketing segments, as they will evolve and grow through the product lifestyle. Each of these segments will also need different relationship marketing needs.

The initial release of Google-TV will face much of the same problems that Apple TV and MS Media Centers have: penetrating past early-adoption techies into the general population. As they break the population down into segments, a relationship plan will have to be developed to meet the needs of each group. Current Netflix subscribers will need different information than a customer who only has a cable and Internet subscription. A potential customer who already streams Netflix through their PS3 is going to have different prejudices and perspectives than either of the previously mentioned segments.

Google does have some experience in selling their software in third party hardware when they sold the Nexus One early in 2010. The difference here, however, will be that Google will not own the sales channel for Google-TV. This is a very important variable in Google’s relationship with their customers, especially with the high involvement of the research and decision making process.

This will also be a change for consumers who have grown accustomed to Google’s free products: Gmail, Analytics, Voice, Search, YouTube, documents, and Blogspot. In order for customers to get the full benefit of Google-TV they will have to have subscriptions to other services such as Hulu, Netflix, and HBO. If not managed correctly, customers could feel that Google is not delivering on the bill of goods sold to them, and could change consumer’s view of all Google products.

Partnerships
So much of Google-TV’s perceived value and success is dependant on the relationships they have developed, have lost, and are working on with their vendors. These partnerships are of vital importance to Google, because without them the Google-TV software is a complete failure.

Among the most dangerous of these partnerships are cable/broadband providers. This relationship has already drawn a major strike against Google-TV, as CBS, ABC, and NBC have already begun blocking Google-TV from accessing full-length episodes through their sites. If the most popular sites block Google due to worries about how it affects the revenue generation abilities of those companies, Google-TV loses value quickly. Along with sites being blocked, consumers will have to make decisions on paying for subscriptions to other partners such as Netflix and Hulu, and if they find value in adding these services to current cable subscriptions (or if they will feel they have to choose between Google-TV and its premium services or current cable television packages).

We still have not touched on how these partnerships also come with their own brand reputations, which will also affect consumers’ decisions on weather to purchase these extra hardware pieces to access Google-TV. For starters, Logitech and Sony are both well-known brands in the electronics marketplace. In Sony’s case, they also make PCs that connect to the Internet, and possibly more importantly, make the PS3. The PS3 also has Netflix capabilities, plays Blu-ray DVDs, and connects to the Playstation Network for streaming video capabilities.

All of these partnerships will also play into the segmentation of the market. With the added ability to segment the market based on these relationships, it also means that there are many data points from multiple sources for consumers to decipher that Google has no control over. This is an aspect that Apple has been able to use to their benefit over the last decade: they control the hardware, software, and distribution channels. The multiple data points can also give the consumer more perceived risks about the Google-TV products.

With the way that Google’s partnerships and relationship marketing influence the segmentation of the market, I would encourage those to be the first aspect to concentrate on when marketing Google-TV in a competitive and potentially volatile marketplace. The lack of knowledge and experience that the general population has about these types of products, the learning curve could be step and will require high involvement form customers, Google, and their partners.

Customers are making more than just a decision to by a piece of hardware to watch Internet video. They are giving up space in their entertainment centers, and HDMI connection to their televisions, spending another $300, plus possibly more in premium services, and may even be deciding whether or not to continue to subscribe to cable or satellite services. Google cannot afford to approach this as a beta the way they did with the Nexus One. Internet providers are not in need of video hardware and software options to gain an edge in the market they way mobile network providers needed options to take on AT&T and the incredibly popular iPhone with the Android operating system. If Google-TV and Apple TV (for examples) fail, consumers may feel that they are at the mercy of cable and satellite providers and that Google cannot back up the promises they make to their customers.

When do customers "appear" to become less important?

In my Consumer Behavior class Tuesday night we discussed what companies do, or seem to do, that makes customers less important. I really like looking at customer relations from this angle. We so often concentrate specifically on what we say we are giving our customers, not what we may not be giving our customers.

This opens up the thought process in analyzing your business. Do your customers feel important. Do your actions (marketing, networking, advertising, customer service) make your customers feel important? Are you sure?

Are your customers trying to tell you something? There may be something your customers are trying to tell you they want, and the when you don't have a response (changes/add-ons to products, new products) you send the message to them that you do not value your relationship with them.

As so much does not, it goes back to taking part of the conversation with your customers. Open up the dialog, and listen closely to what they are saying about you, and especially what they are saying to you.

It Lives! IT LIIIIVES!!

We have now launched NMc Interactive Marketing! NMc Interactive Marketing's goal is to help small businesses market themselves like a large corporation. We feel small businesses are what make our country great, and we want to help them succeed.

One of the most difficult aspects of running a small company is devoting the time and energy to marketing. That's why it's our passion. We take care of all of the marketing or give the helping hand needed so that you, as a business owner and/or manager, can focus on the day-to-day operations or take full advantage of the time away from the office.

Since most of my favorite places to eat and shop are small businesses, I want them to stick around, and that is why I started NMc Interactive Marketing.

New Websites

So I am working on new site for myself, so this should be interesting. I am going to use iWeb to design the site, mostly just because it is a tool that I haven't played with that much, and I want to see what it can do. Secondly, I want to see how optimizing it goes. It looks like there are a few tools out there that can help, and it will be a completley new site, domain, everything, so traffic and rankings out of the gate will be interesting.

I will also be working on some marketing tactics for my daughter's swim club, The Richfield Piranhas. It will include the current site, and social media, and event planning. I will update that here as we go along through the end of the summer and into the beginning of the fall season.

Apple Camp

So my 10-year-old daughter is at Apple Camp today for the movie-making class. Am I a little jealous? Well, yes. It really seems like fun, and I kinda want the t-shirt they give the kids.

But underneath the blatant way to get people to come back to the store and be surrounded by everything new and shinny Apple, it is a great way make sure that kids and parents know how to use and get the most form their Macs, and in the long run, build loyalty to Apple products because they can do all of this with an Apple computer right out of the box.

I know Apple has been under fire on the interwebs for being expensive and being "closed" (just do a quick Google of "iphone + flash" and you will get bombarded). But as far as a computer or tech company, the advertising, gorilla marketing, and ability to build brand loyalty has been amazing.

Looking past the physical products and at the marketing plans shows a very diverse process to develop loyal customers.

Aside from the marketing, my daughter is really enjoying the class, and it has been fun for me to watch her learn about story boards, shooting footage, and now editing to create a final product. She spent a lot of time with her little sister shooting the video clips, and she is making her own music video of Justin Beiber's song "Baby" with her little sister and her bitty baby doll. (I'm still working on getting her to listen to music that isn't played on Disney Channel, which is tough when the radio and her friends constantly have it going, but we are making strides. She likes some of Dessa's new songs.)

This has been great for her, and she has been really excited. After it's all done, we'll load it up to share with you.

Video Tour of Bluffs at Nine Mile Creek

I put together a video tour of one of the properties my company manages, the Bluffs at Nine Mile Creek in Eden Prairie, MN. I recorded the video using a Flip camera, and then edited it in iMovie. Not perfect, but it is a beta to show management that video can be a helpful marketing tool for us.

Let me know what you think (besides I took shaky video...)

Summer Term

I am taking Marketing Communications for the summer, winding down my MBA program. The class is based around our group project of building a marketing plan for a non-profit company. My group will be helping PROP in Eden Prairie. They offer help to those in need with a food shelf, consignment shop, and financial planning services.
Our first step will be outlining our marketing plan, should be interesting, as this is my first time doing a full marketing plan for a non-profit company with very limited funds for marketing.

Data, data, data

In the data gathering mode, trying to put together a way to track all of our activity from our website, our property resident portals, and our internet advertising with site sites like Rent.com and ApartmentFinder.com.

Once I get that step down, the fun will come, as I put together recommendations for our Marketing group to give to the properties. Once I get this set up, I will share some of my findings and templates to get more colaboration from everyone.

Fun from my Ethics class

For my Ethics class we are writing an oath, and for fun, we thought we would create a twitter account to go along with. I thought it might be fun to have the only oath (that we know of) for a business that can be passed along in 140 or less.

Here is the account: twitter.com/ethicsteamred

User Survey

Hey everyone, I am looking for feedback on one of our websites. Would
you take a few minutes and take this survey? Much appreciated! http://bit.ly/bpXNVI

Do you use your website?

So, maybe its just me, but I have been coming across a lot of websites lately that are just not user friendly. I don't want to call anyone out here just yet, but it really makes me wonder if people spend any time on their own sites.

I think my next "project" I will pick out some websites that I come across and do an informal usability audit for a little practice.

I have been amazed at how many sites make it difficult for visitors to get to information, lack conversion points, just don't work, and so on. This isn't even getting into mobile. I am really looking forward to this (holly geek alert Batman) and should be kind of fun. Maybe I will also post it SEOmoz to get some more input on the audit tactics I am using.

ROI Measurement

Take a step back and look at your marketing strategy.

    * You’re promoting your business online, in print and at in-person events ― but is each channel connecting you with the qualified, high-value prospects you want?
    * Prospects are clicking to your Web site ― but are you converting those leads to new business?
    * You have a client-development budget ― but is it based on hard data about which strategies are working for your firm?

Bottom line: are you getting good value for your marketing dollar?

Factoring return on investment, or ROI, into your growth plan is one important way to ensure that you are. ROI measurement helps you zero in on key information ― how prospects find you, how successfully you’re converting them, which strategies are cost-effective ― that can save money and expand your client list.

It’s a three-step process:

1) Tracking leads generated and other information for each channel — Web, print ads, broadcast and others — that your business maintains.  
2) Evaluating which channels are delivering quality prospects and which tactics need fine-tuning.
3) Modifying your marketing effort based on that information.

For Web-based marketing, the good news is that there are powerful analytical software programs, (which often are included when you sign up with a Web-site provider) that can help you assess:

    * What site content is most valued by visitors.
    * Which keywords, search engines and other referral sources generate the most visitors.
    * How many client intake forms are submitted from your site.
    * Total visitors and page views.

That’s good information for isolating under-performing site content, making search-engine-friendly edits and getting “bang for the buck” from online ads and paid placements.

Lead tracking doesn’t have to be fancy. Assign your receptionist to record telephone inquiries. Create a new-client information sheet for word-of-mouth referrals. Just keep it consistent (capture the same information from prospects no matter how they reach your firm) and sustainable enough to incorporate, long-term, into your practice management.
I'm going to make a change to this (I wrote it a while back for small law firms). Your lead tracking should be much more advanced in 2010. Separate phone numbers are pretty cheap now, get some you can track how many calls you get from each source. Use specific intake forms for your different online advertising campaigns. For a very small investment, you can track results from all of your advertising.

With that data in hand, you can take the next step and calculate which marketing channels are delivering the best value in terms of:

    * Lead quality. One channel may drive a high quantity of leads to your business while another delivers great quality (higher rate of conversion or average value per client). Your journal ads may primarily reach the corporate market while individuals find you online.
    * Cost per lead. For each channel, compare the amount you’re paying per lead. Cost per lead for television and Yellow Pages, for example, often is higher than Web-generated leads.
    * Lifetime value. Consider the big picture — the lifetime value of a client, not just the value of the matter on your desk. Could this client develop into a long-term relationship? And generate multiple referrals for your firm in the process?

Of course some marketing strategies — volunteerism, sponsorships — may score low in financial terms but still deliver by generating name awareness and planting the seeds for future business.

Moving forward

Ultimately, the goal of ROI measurement is to make better, more informed marketing decisions: to invest more where you’re seeing results and rethink strategies that aren’t delivering.

Online, that could mean improving your visibility on the legal directories and search engines that drive your Web site traffic with the highest profitability. Or revamping less-visited areas of your site.

By taking ROI into account and using tools like Web analytic software, you can base these decisions on solid data rather than guesswork.

And that can translate into more new clients and a better return on your marketing budget.

What do you do?

This is something I wrote aimed at law firms, but it hits the apartment marketing industry as well:
I thought of this on my way to work this morning, when I got to a stop light and saw a small sign that said “Squeegee Squad” and had a web url that I could not read. And my first thought? What do you squeegee? Why do I need your services?

Now think, a potential client lands on your website, and asks: “What do you do?”

“Well, since my company name ends with ‘Attorney at Law…,’ isn’t it pretty obvious?”
Not so much…
With tens of thousands of law firms out there, (seriously, go do a search for law firm, I got millions of  results) you need to separate yourself.

This is why you need a ‘positioning statement’ on your site. Some attorneys do a great job of this. “California Criminal Defense Attorneys” has a strong, short description on their home page, with the flash in the banner further highlighting the firm’s strengths. This personal injury firm created a tag line that separates themselves from their competition, “Not All Attorneys Can Rise Above the Pack.”

These positioning statements help visitors make the decision to stay on your site, and contact you to determine if you are the one who can handle their issue.

What have I done that's floating out there?

So I did a Google search for myself (how vain...)

But I did find some interesting writings that I did while at FindLaw - Thomson Reuters, that still hold true today, so I thought I would post those.
From Eight Guidelines for Ethical Online Marketing
There's no single, "one-size-fits-all" set of ethics rules that apply to every online marketing activity.

Apply the same standards online and off. Here's a straightforward one to start. Most of the ethics standards governing your print ads, brochures and other traditional marketing tools also apply online.  

Tell the whole story.

Keep expectations in check. Do your homework and include the disclaimers and factual background required.

Substantiate comparisons. Statements measuring one's services against another's run afoul of the ethics rules in many states if they can't be factually substantiated. Avoid (or clearly document) comparisons to other companies — even implied comparisons, such as billing your firm as "the most experienced in the _____."

Educate yourself. We'll save the most important for last. Even if you outsource your online marketing activities, you're ultimately responsible for staying informed about the guidelines that apply in states where you do business. Online sources of information include:

Staying educated on these ethics guidelines is one important step in building and maintaining a productive, long-term online presence for your law firm.

Video on your site?

One of the things I have heard often over the last year has to do with adding video to a website. katemats at SEOmoz did a terrific write up about getting started in online video. As with all of your marketing, make sure you have a call to action.
One thing that comes to mind as I look at online videos, is how they might temporarily give landing pages a new purpose: a page with a specific url and content relating to the video, with a url that will only be used in the video. If you make sure to non-index the page, this should also help you track how effective your videos are at converting eyeballs to visitors (this, of course, assumes you are using one of the video sites out there such as Vemo or YouTube).

New Phone

I know I'm a little late to the Android party, but I picked up my new phone yesterday, HTC Hero. My T-Mobile contract came up, and I have made the jump from Balckberry.
So far...I like it.
I will follow-up after I completely figure it out, get the apps that I want loaded, and test out DoubleTwist.

Any suggestions on what I can do, should try, make sure to not do?

Buzz

So the about about Buzz.....and every other not-so-cleaver snarky line.
I'm just not sure about it.
I don't really use it. At first I was hooping it would be more like Hootsuite, bringing all of my social media together. But alas, it is more like a v-bulletin forum. And there are already plenty of those.

Are there any heavy users out there? (besides spammers)

Super Bowl Ads

More talk about the ads. I will admit, that as much as I love football, the biggest reason I watch the big game is for the commercials.

see them all on AdAge

My favorite? It was kind of hard this year. I thought that just about all of the spots this year were pretty good. My daughter really liked the Snickers commercial with Betty White, and Monster's beaver. Both pretty good I thought. Even Bud Light's were pretty good, and just seeing a can of Bud makes my stomach hurt.

What were your favorites this year?

Get Social

You have heard about Social Media, but what does that cover, and how can you take advantage of it? Here are some of the most popular social media tools, and tips for using them to your advantage. With all social media, the most important thing for you to do is take part in the conversation.

Facebook
The most popular social site, Facebook allows its users to build networks with friends, family, coworkers, and even brands (entertainment, products, and services). Facebookers can share status updates, event invites, photos, videos, play games, and more.
Hints and Tips
-    give updates such as events, anniversaries, maintenance issues
-    invite friends to events (resident parties, open houses, clubs)
-    share photos and videos from around the property
-    create discussions to get feedback
-    promote referral and renewal offers
-    share “What’s Happening” from around town

Apartment Ratings
Love it or (mostly) hate it, it is here and not going away any time soon. This site allows users to share their experiences and opinions about a specific property.
Hints and Tips
-    address negative reviews; try to get information on what happened, what can be done to fix the problem. This shows readers that you do pay attention to residents, and helps to weed out fake/untrue reviews.
-    take action to correct issues, and post the follow-up. To give even more power to the review, if you can get the initial review to follow-up that is even better.
-    make sure to thank those who leave good reviews, do not ignore them. Make sure they know they are appreciated!

Yelp!
A rating site for consumer businesses of all types. Allows users to rate establishments they have visited and share experiences, favorites, promote events, and build networks. Businesses are allowed to take part in the conversation addressing patrons, promoting events and specials.
Hints and Tips
-    claim your property, this allows you to make updates to your listing
-    interact with your residents, similar to Apartment Ratings above, address negative reviews and thank those for positive reviews. More than other rating sites, Yelpers will come back and update their reviews.

Blogs
Widely used platform for sharing experiences, opinions, reviews, and everyday happenings. The best blogs also have very active comment sections in which readers and writes banter about the topic.
Hints and Tips
-    great way to talk about your property in a more conversational tone
-    allows residents to have a voice as guest posters
-    think of it as combining Facebook and a newsletter into one

Twitter
Also referred to as “micro-blogging”, this is a popular way to share updates such as location, articles found, blog postings, and the like. The life of a Twitter update is very short because of the large amounts of connections and updates.
Hints and Tips
-    share event information
-    promote content posted to your other websites
-    address residents and prospects
-    share your outreach activities

FourSquare
Location based mobile application, allows you to let your friends know where you are, and where they should go and what they should do there.
Hints and Tips
-    enter in your location into the database so that people can check in at the property
-    add to-do’s at your property
-    run specials for mayorship and number of check-ins

MySpace
Has been surpassed by Facebook in general popularity, but still widely used by musicians and young teens, at least at the moment.
Hints and Tips
-    Some new restrictions to the music player, which helped MySpace hold onto users, have been recently updated.
-    Offers much of the same functionality for the apartment industry, but may miss the target market (mostly used by those under 18)

Hoot Suite/Tweet Deck
A tool for managing some social networks: Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Wordpress blogs.
Hints and Tips
-    allows you to manage multiple social media tools
-    time your postings, write multiple postings, and set a time for them to be posted

Email
The original and still most used social media tool. Allows you to reach out to your residents and prospects, and allows them to digest information and respond at their convenience.

RentWiki
Site that allows people to comment and make recommendations about the town/city that apartments are located in.

Ning/Forums/Social Sites
These are sites that build a community were members build reputations, share information, and more. These networks can be private, and can have strong relationships.

Linked In
Facebook for professionals. Profile is generally a resume, and very little personal information is shared.

FourSquare

Anyone else use this? http://foursquare.com
I like the idea, it's pretty fun, and if I owned a restaurant, gym, store, I would be all over it.

But man does it make me feel boring!
I go to the gym, CostCo, and to my daughter's activities, and that's just about it...nothing like technology to make you feel old huh? You can check me out here

What do you think of this? Great for letting your best customers let others know great things to do at your business/event (at least that's my opinion of it).

I feel like a couple of my favorite hangouts, Matt's Bar and Chatterbox Pub could really do a lot with this: mayorships, group check-ins, to-do of the day, ect.

What do others think?

Priorities for Marketers

Wow, just read this on SEOmoz today http://www.seomoz.org/blog/senior-marketers-need-greater-accountability
Maybe it's because I got into marketing during the internet age, but I agree with Rand on this, I would have thought that conversion/ROI would have been at the top of the list. IMHO, that is one of the great things about marketing products and services today, we can track so much of the activity that our campaigns generate.
With advanced analytics packages, the current and evolving CRM tools, and the ability we have to designate trackable conversion applications (websites, phone numbers, etc) there is way more opportunity to separate what works and what doesn't. To me, that sounds like less time and money wasted.

Back to the grind

First day heading back to class....and of course it snows and gnarls traffic!
But, I did get to class (albeit 15 minutes late), and I think it will be ok. I am finishing up my MBA, and am taking business ethics this semester.

Anywho, I'll be glad when I have my degree, and to see what doors open up.

Also, I am working on a post about designing websites for users, and I will be looking for feedback from that.