Mr. Robbins' Neighborhood

Getting Marketing Started for Start-ups

2009-10-27T12:55:00.012-04:00

Over the thirty years plus of my work in the marketing business, I have managed hundreds of new brands and start-ups. Recently we have created work for a first time non-fiction author and personal chef releasing her first DVD.

With both clients we were creating identity from little or no materials at all. One of our clients had been in business a long time but had never collected a full palate of professional photos. Much of what I am about to talk about will seem like the most base remarks but since I continue to run into these challenges every day, I am going to try to be ultra simple.

1. Logo. It is imperative to have a fundamental working logo. It is amazing to me how some of the companies we work with do not have a functional logo. In this day and time there is simply no excuse. The smart direction is to hire a marketing firm or design firm to make this happen. If money is a problem then there are numerous alternatives. One of the most popular is the new online design competitions and auctions. see example:

http://www.crowdspring.com/how-it-works

CrowdSpring is only one of hundreds of sites like this but they have recently created an excellent design for one of my close associates so I know their system works.

2. General Design. Many start-ups are forced to use quick print and in-house services to get their early printed messages out. This is fine. Budget dictates what we can and cannot do sometimes. Having said that, find a designer that will template some of your main letters, forms, proposals and Power Point presentations. Once you have some fundamental design in place, you will find it easier to create professional looking documents consistently. If you have to make a choice over design and printing...choose design. A little design goes a long way towards a professional document. Bad design can obscure even the best printing.

3. Pictures and images. With stock photography as prevalent as it is there is really no reason to have bad images attached to your designs. The problem comes when you need a photo of yourself or team mates or product. Every Tom Dick and Harry with a digital camera these days thinks they are a photographer. Spend some money on photos of key management, founders and important staff. A well planned professional photo session can save you thousands of hours of headaches when you go to produce your first web site, public relations or printed materials. There are many great photographers in the $1500-2500 per day range and most of them will negotiate based on time, trouble and current activity.

4. Video. We have a Canon HD Pro-sumer camera for video. With proper lighting, microphones and a green screen you can produce just about anything. But you can buy an HD Flip Camera for about $150. We recently conducted a workshop for a new professional development seminar and invited about 20 people. We shot video of the entire event. We came away with presentation examples, recorded comments on how to improve the content and some incredible testimonials. Don't worry about owning the technology. You can hire this out as well. Guess what that video will be worth when we produce the web site?

5. Web site. Now take all of the components above and have some talented web folks (we are happy to apply) add some words and put all of it together.

This is not expensive and it is critical. Don't think you can afford it? Call or email me and let's see what we can do to help. If we are not a good fit for your start-up we know many people to recommend.

Outliers

2009-08-10T12:01:00.005-04:00

I love Malcolm Gladwell. He offers us just the right amount of interesting business reading tossed with a large dose of off-the-wall research. Each time I read one of his books, I always learn something. "Tipping Point" gave us the circumstances that led to powerful change in cities and companies over the years. In the case of "Outliers" I was stuck by several powerful facts:

1. Your Culture can make a significant difference in your personal story of success. Culture can be an advantage, or a disadvantage or a disadvantage that leads to an advantage.

2. The amount you practice a skill is extremely significant. 10,000 hours seems to be the magic number. Gladwell estimates that many enormously successful people have all had at least this critical amount of practice. He cites the Beatles journey to Hamburg as a key element to their growth and development. Playing 5-7 hours a day seven days a week over a year and a half gave them the practice hours they needed to get really good.

3. The right place at the right time seems to be very significant in Gladwell's research as well. Jobs and Gates were the beneficiaries of several circumstances that led to their success but one of the elements was their age in 1975 during the computer revolution: "young enough to be a part of it but not old enough to miss it". Both were born in 1955 (as well as Eric Scmidt of Google). See my early blog on Digital Immigrants.

The book debunks a lot of "Horatio Alger pull-yourself-up-by-your-boot-strap-stories" with some extraordinary facts about both the successful and not so successful. He also debunks other common ideas. Of particular interest for me were the studies of a large sample of genius level kids conducted by Lewis Terman and reported extensively in Gladwell's chapters "The Trouble with Geniuses".

I am a research Junkie and I love what Gladwell has written here. My takeaway though is less than hopeful according to the statistics: Born in the wrong culture; at the wrong time (too early).

I do have a ton of practice in marketing/communications: 30 plus years at 8 hours per day equals at least 62,400 hours. So pick up the phone and give me a call!

Practice What you Preach

2009-07-09T09:19:00.002-04:00

When I became involved with Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Classmates and Youtube, I really was not sure how the social media might help my business. In the last several months of working with these new tools I have become more and more convinced of their power especially now when the economy and time does not allow for more traditional networking.

A few years ago I reconnected with a classmate (we have actually known each other since grade school). On a phone call with him not long ago I discovered that he was working in the Charlotte area with a a company that served the automotive industry. We met and had dinner. We later had dinner with the President of his company and not long after that first meeting his company engaged with aro on two assignments.

More recently this past Tuesday I met with Twitter friend Dean Holmes (See his blog) http://bit.ly/Ah7EX . He is a social media expert and data guru with Vertis. The two of us "practice what we preach": We met on Twitter, talked on phone then met in person in Huntersville, NC. I have already learned a great deal from Dean as he has invested significantly in the various social media tools and has a wonderful consultancy dedicated to that practice. My Goal is to bring him to Charlotte for a CEO only event. This is just a couple of examples of the Networking I have been able to do regionally and nationally.

I have also met another large firm through some communication on LinkedIn and aro drove over 100,000 views to a simple press release for one of my smaller clients (in one week) by using many of these same tools. Further they are probably the smallest dollar investment I make with the largest return!

So if you are unclear about the opportunity talk with us about this amazing efficient new tool. It starts with a basic conversation that I am happy to discuss with you. I am happy to send you to other experts like Dean or whatever it takes to get your company headed in this direction. Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/macnchuk or Dean at Twitter.com/DeanHolmes. I have learned more on Twitter in the last few months than from all of my professional development reading in the last quarter.

Our Friend and Client "The Food Fairy"

2009-05-07T16:20:00.001-04:00

North Carolina Public Radio Selects "The Food Fairy" To Cater For Prairie Home Companion Cast And Crew

Living in Prime Time can be Living in Tough Times

2008-10-11T15:29:00.001-04:00

The Story
Last May my small business began working on an event geared to those of us in, or approaching the second half of life. Titled "Living In Prime Time" we did not know that as we closed in on the crucial window for registration, we would be thrust in the center of one of the worst financial meltdowns this country has seen since the 30's.

The event has terrific content. Dr. Kevin Soden is our lunch keynote. He is a former medical correspondent with NBC and is presenting "Laughing Your Way to a Better You" then following that program with the perfect workshop for this past month " Less Stress in Life's Transitions". In addition to these timely topics, there are 11 other workshops and presentations and two sit down meals all for the low cost of $99 for the day, $59 for the half day.

The concept of this event was born out of my own experience. A few years ago I paid a visit to my mother in Tennessee. It became clear right away that something was wrong. Many of her bills were unpaid (not because she did not have the money), her homeowners association was about to take her house and she had lost 35 lbs because she could not remember to eat! We learned quickly that she was in early stage Alzheimer's and was going to require help for the rest of her life. This challenge added to the fact that we were currently putting two of our sons through college, caring for one other older relative and trying to run a small business really put pressure on my family.

When the smoke cleared, on the immediate issues, I decide to run up the flag on being prepared for whatever life throws at you in your fifties (and beyond) thus our planned event for October 17, 2008. Baby Boomers think that they are still 10 feet tall and bulletproof but it does not take much to throw you into a tailspin if you are not thinking about what could happen in the future. My Mom was a tough ole goose and none of my family gave a moment of thought to a time when she would not be self-sufficient.

NBC has called my age group the "Sandwich Generation" (sandwiched between parenting children and caring for older adults). There are numerous articles at my web site on this unique stage of life as well as further information on how to register for our event. I know that you will be entertained, inspired and educated. Join me if you can and find out from the experts how to make the 2nd half of life your best yet. Take a day off from the tough times it will be time well invested.

Advice for Others
Get ready for changes in the 2nd half of Life. Having estate information, insurance info, and a proper power of attorney for those that you love and may have to take care of is crucial. Learn about this and much more at "Living in Prime Time".

Digital Immigrant?

2008-09-06T13:50:00.000-04:00

So I saw a presentation at the American Marketing Association put on by one of the Apple Engineers a few weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised that the content of the presentation was not product oriented but rather industry and market focused. I was also pleasantly surprised that an engineer was capable of a presentation like this. Francis Shepherd gets many kudos for pulling it off. He is a blogger and a tweeter so he communicates better than a lot of tech heads I know.

It was during this presentation that I learned that I was a "digital immigrant". Apple apparently segments two fundamental groups: those of us born before 1980 and those of us born post 1980. Post 1980 you are considered a "digital native". This must explain why it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to start a Prius. My wife (also an immigrant) needed coaching as well. My son and my daughter (both digital natives) just jumped in started the vehicle and took off. This pretty much stinks as I hate when they adapt better and faster than me. None the less it points out that there are considerable differences in the marketing approach to the two different groups. We learn differently and we understand differently. As much as I consider myself reasonably hip, I did not grow up with a computer in my room and therefore I am more technically challenged than my kids.

I hope this designation does not hinder my ability to blog and I know that as a "digital immigrant" I'll have to work harder to understand all the marketing nuances thrust on us in the web revolution. I'll have to put in longer hours to manage all the new marketing tools at my disposal but I am truly dedicated to that proposition. My company's involvement in the Public Relations arena introduced us to some of these concepts early. My video experience gave me a leg up on some of the Social Media opportunities and Web 2.0. Even so, I will be forever "challenged" in the eyes of my teenager and her twenty something brothers. There is some satisfaction in knowing that they all still ask me for help when the printer is down.