Archive for Duct Tape Marketing
Have you ever forgotten the obvious – Duct Tape Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever forgotten the obvious? I do not believe that I have ever featured Duct Tape Marketing: (The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
) Book on my blog. It has sold over 50,000 copies in hardback, paperback and Kindle editions and has been translated into Croat, Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish and never once appeared in the Business901 blog. Since this writing, John Jantsch has been at the forefront of Social Media and Referral Marketing. His new book on Referral Marketing is due out in the spring of 2010.
In the Duct Tape Marketing book, John Jantsch, the author has really focused on three areas that I feel are the most important: Simple, Effective and Affordable strategies for the Small Business Owner. John effectively followed these terms throughout the book. Take a look at the excerpt and see if you agree: Google Books.
BTW r u tweeting ur customers http://ow.ly/EkP9
Posted by: | CommentsDo you know what that means! If you don’t you should seriously consider taking the Social Media Training that I have been hyping the last few days. The other day in a tweet I saw this statement: “I showed my Dad how to turn on the computer. I wonder what my kids will be showing me.” It was in a Duct Tape Marketing thread but I don’t remember if John said it or not. However, are you ready for where Social Media will take you next year? Are you ready to participate? Do you have your ducks in a row?
Ask yourself:
Will there always be regular mail?
Will you always have faxes?
Will you always have e-mail?
My kids don’t talk, they text – are they my next customer?
BTW r u tweeting ur customers http://ow.ly/EkP9
Sign up for the course! In the comment section of your order expand the Title Tweet to long form. It does not even have to be correct! Just make the attempt, I will send you a free Duct Tape Marketing Book and the first five will be autographed.
The special offer on the course stops at Midnight November 22nd.
IF YOU WANT TO BE ON-LINE, YOU NEED TO LEARN ONLINE
P.S. Normally on Sunday I have a blog post from an affiliate of mine. This Sunday, I decided to be my own affiliate and promote the Business901 launch of the Duct Tape Marketing Social Media Pro.
Why Social Media is so Lean
Posted by: | CommentsWikpedia: Lean is basically about doing the right things, to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity while minimizing waste and being flexible and open to change.
Lean actually got its name from the best selling book, The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production– Toyota’s Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Now Revolutionizing World Industry
Specify value in the eyes of the customer
Identify the value stream and eliminate waste
Make value flow at the pull of the customer
Involve and empower employees
Continuously improve in the pursuit of perfection.
These concepts have stood the test of time and are still used as the foundation in Lean thinking through out the world. But as I review these concepts look how readily they apply to social media and marketing today. I have chosen a list of books that will reinforces these 5 core principles.
Specify value in the eyes of the customer: Social Media has brought on a wave of content marketing. As a result, we have more FREE information available instantaneously today than ever. Social Media is about supplying value to the customer. The essence of Social Media is the interaction and discussion. Book Recommendation: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
Identify the value stream and eliminate waste: To be effective in Social Media, you have to understand your value stream and do what is important to your customers. If you try to do everything, you will be quite ineffective and realize very little results, if any. Book Recommendation: Get Content Get Customers: Turn Prospects into Buyers with Content Marketing
Make value flow at the pull of the customer: Customers find you in Social Media by your activity, not by your bombarding of messages. Book Recommendation: Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media)
Involve and empower employees: Social Media is about transparency and authenticity throughout the entire organization. More people are communicating with each other at all levels of our organizations then ever before. We have no barriers. World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories
Continuously improve in the pursuit of perfection: The bar is raised for us everyday. The people that are falling behind in Social Media may not recognize the world tomorrow. Do you have to jump in and spend vast amount of time in this world. No, not at this point. However, you need to have not only your toe but a rather large portion of your foot immersed testing the waters. If you are participating in Social Media, the result of it will be continuous improvement. Shameless Plug: Duct Tape Marketing Social Media Pro hosted by Business901.
How Lean is Social Media?
P.S. Yes, These are Amazon Affiliate Links.
Your Marketing Vision should define your Customer’s Core Problem
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s products and services reflect greater marketing segmentation. As you know, I use the Duct Tape Marketing Hourglass as The Pillar of the Lean Marketing House™ but there is no universal terminology, it is just convenient to stay with one message because even as you segment your list you still have to recognize the marketing process into stages such as Know, Like, Trust, Trial and Buy.
As you segment, each segment will include fewer customers. However, it should enable you to identify the individual stages more effectively or determine your material and information flow needed in each step. It will also allow you to define waste and create better value for your customer. In fact, this is basically the definition of Value Stream Mapping.
As a result of this exercise, you will change the shape of your Pillar. You should be able to shorten your cycle in some and as a result decrease your expenditure in the marketing process. Others, on the other hand, may be lengthened and a total different approach may have to be utilized. A good example of this may be in the pursuit of a governmental contract. The point to be taken is that there is nothing wrong with either situation, what is wrong is treating each segment the same.
The key ingredient to get started is developing the NEED statement for each marketing segment or Pillar. The statement should clearly define your CUSTOMER’S CORE PROBLEM and your ability to solve that problem. Defining this alone will provide clarity throughout the various stages in your marketing process. The NEED statement is a living document that will evolve as your product/service and the customer’s use of it changes. Further development of this statement should include limits on cost and time to keep your Pillar within boundaries that you are able to manage.
The point of defining the Need Statement is to succeed at developing a manageable process. We want the resulting marketing phases (Know, Like, Trust..etc.) to meet our customer’s needs, at the right time and at the right cost. It must do this in a way that maximizes our investment in the process. Marketing can be a complex and often risky process and in today’s world it mandates speedy development. The Lean Marketing process is geared to provide a framework and specific tools for efficiently and predictably reaching goals.
Related Posts:
Following the Customer’s Need in your Value Stream Map
The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House
Value Stream Mapping for Marketing
Get Rid of Your Marketing Vision Statement and Address the NEED!
Why do The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House™ crumble?
Applying the Marketing Hourglass: The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House
