Congratulations and a big shout-out for Ashlee Richards, newly certified as a CSMA (Certified Social Marketing Associate) for Eilert Communications! Ashlee earned the designation through years of experience in social media, hours of study and passing an exam required by the Department of Education for Certifications of the eMarketing Association. The eMarketing Association is an international association of marketers committed to the advancement and excellence of marketing in the digital era.

What does this mean to you? Our commitment to excellence and continual learning in our field means you receive marketing excellence. Certification demonstrates competency and commitment to social marketing as a science, and to continuous education in the field. Ashlee’s commitment to excellence is reflected in this certification.

Congratulations, Ashlee!

We don’t normally take political stands here at Eilert Communications. Two bills in front of Congress and the Senate, however, got our attention. And not in a good way.

SOPA, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” goes up for a vote in the House next week. The Protect IP Act (PIPA) goes in front of the Senate next week. The intention is to “protect intellectual property rights” and “go after online piracy”. We are all for protecting intellectual property. After all, we are in the business of building brands and identities. But these proposals are not the way to do it.

Both proposals go well beyond that intention and venture into the territory of censorship and government selection of which businesses stay in business. One analogy being used that we think is fitting is shutting down the auto industry because a bank robber drove away from a robbery in a car.

About the bills

Both bills attempt to address the issue of copyright/trademark infringement and the problem of online piracy. Cnet posted a good FAQ on “How SOPA would affect you: FAQ”, which outlines specifics of the bill and the potential impact. Reddit, which has led the awareness charge for SOPA, also has a good FAQ.

3 reasons why these are bad proposals:

1) Extreme penalties. The bills propose shutting down entire sites if someone deems content on a page to violate copyright laws. Which makes us ask: isn’t that what copyright laws already cover? Perhaps enforcing those laws might be a better course of action.

2) Our economy, like many world wide, is still in the tank. The internet offers one of very few growth sectors. According to the report “Internet matters: The Net’s sweeping impact on growth, jobs, and prosperity” published by the  McKinsey Global Institute, “The Internet accounted for 21 percent of GDP growth over the last five years among the developed countries MGI studied, a sharp acceleration from the 10 percent contribution over 15 years. Most of the economic value created by the Internet falls outside of the technology sector, with 75 percent of the benefits captured by companies in more traditional industries. The Internet is also a catalyst for job creation. Among 4,800 small and medium-size enterprises surveyed, the Internet created 2.6 jobs for each lost to technology-related efficiencies.” Now Congress and the Senate propose to kill that with this law. We have to wonder why there is time and energy for this type of legislation when picking up where the Super Committee failed might be a better focus.

3) There are privacy concerns on traffic monitoring and it also opens the door to potential blacklisting.

See how your Representative and Senators stand

ProPublica is posting summaries of where Representatives and Senators stand. Click on the link for your state to see the details. Also of note: how many dollars their 2010 campaigns received from the movie/music/tv industry, and from the computer/internet industry.

What you can do

What can you do? Simple: contact your Congressional Representative and Senators and let them know you do not support this legislation. We did. Here’s where our Representative and Senators stand in responding:

Rep. John Yarmuth: no response to my email. Posts on the Web indicate he is not decided yet.

Sen. Rand Paul: responded to my e-mail that he will vote against

Sen. Mitch McConnell: no response yet. Posts on the Web give no indication of where he stands. Who knows?

 Update to post: January 19, 2012:

John Yarmuth just sent me an e-mail indicating he will vote NO on SOPA and PIPA should either bill come up for a vote. His mail noted receiving more than 300 calls and e-mails in the last 24 hours. Thanks for your response, Rep. Yarmuth!

Do you make these marketing mistakes?

Common marketing mistakes business owners make can cost valuable business opportunities and serious money.

Over the years, I’ve heard countless business owners voice regrets about spending marketing dollars for no return. As they say “hindsight is 20/20”. Most stories reflected common mistakes. This list highlights the top 7:

1) Jumping in before you do the research. This is the “ready, fire, aim” syndrome. Let’s face it: research is not the sexiest part of marketing. It often feels like math class. With the exception of people who love data diving, most of us want to get to the fun part: story boards, pictures, sound and video. “Let’s not waste time on research. It costs money (time) we should be using to getting product sold!”

Except: much like avoiding homework leads to poor grades in school, poor research can mean poor business results. Taking the time to understand market trends, competition, customer behavior and economic trends can pay off big, and give you a major competitive advantage.

2) Failing to plan. Plans mean having a calendar and deadlines, with every piece working together. It also means tracking results and correcting if necessary. Too many business owners simply go with what a good advertising sales person recommends, without considering how the ads work with everything else they are doing to promote their business. An integrated marketing plan focuses your dollars to return the maximum, and defines how all of the pieces work together.

3) Asking everyone except your customer what they want. We call this “mother-in-law marketing”. Now, unless your mother-in-law represents your target market, or qualifies as an expert in the industry, we recommend you double check with your customers before rushing head long into a new product launch.

4) Thinking “anyone can market stuff. Heck, my 3 year old can do better than that!” This includes “saving money” by having students do your work for you. Good idea as a start-up, but this can be very costly later in the game. A seasoned pro has already learned the pitfalls students do not yet know.

5) Falling for the sales pitch. This one is especially painful. Local TV/radio/newspaper advertising sales people do a great job, and often have some good ideas about presentation. However: they are not on your team, do not understand your day to day business, and work for the outlet they represent. Their job is to sell you ad space.

Think about how the ad fits into your overall marketing plan. Is it a place your customers come to? Here’s a story we heard. A retail store in the outdoor market invested in a 30 second trailer to show in a local cineplex. The excitement of creating a “mini movie” to show in the movie theatre overshadowed consideration of where hikers would go to get information about gear. The lightbulb moment occurred while sitting in a near empty theatre with popcorn, watching their beautiful trailer.

6) Letting someone design your ad for free (this is close to the high school kid designing your website). To this I ask: “Would you let a high school student call on your #1 customer?” Probably not, because as smart and creative as that kid is, they are not a professional, yet. Your website is your top salesperson, and will likely be in front of more potential customers than any of your staff. Don’t you think it deserves some thought and a professional’s touch?

7) Running after the latest BSO (bright, shiny object). Facebook! Twitter! Foursquare! So many wonderful technologies! Except: everything must work together, or you lose focus and momentum. BSO’s can do wonders for your visibility. Use them as part of an integrated plan.

By taking time to do your homework on the marketplace, working with seasoned professionals to craft an integrated plan, and spending money wisely, you can avoid these pitfalls.

Last year I discovered my staff had not learned goal setting in school. To my shock, this appears to be the norm! (which gets into another issue with our education system, but I digress).

Thirsty for new tools that helped them, everyone embraced the new knowledge and picked it up quickly. And, of course, results began to happen.

Tip: our approach included happiness in every area of life – not just work. This made a big difference to the team. Most comments sounded like this: “This is a view of success I like! Most of the time it’s just about money & more stuff.”

The steps.
Here are the steps I take: Continue reading »

Last week, I wrote about the basics of crafting a feasibility study to test a new business idea before investing too much time and money in it. This week, we look at what a feasibility plan might look like.

What does a feasibility plan look like?

There is no “set in stone” format for a feasibility plan. Good plans are on paper or digital – and some great plans have sketched out on the back of napkins (literally). Here are two suggested outlines of information you will need: Continue reading »

Have you ever spent a lot of time, money and energy on a “great new idea”, but wondered later what you ever saw in it? New business ideas are exciting. After all, they are new!

One way is to do a quick feasibility study to test the idea. Feasibility studies serve three key purposes: Continue reading »

Expert presenters have a #1 rule: know your audience. Before crafting any type of presentation, first understand who will be listening, why they are there, and what is important to them. Continue reading »

Everybody loves a story. Stories help us understand and identify with situations and people. Continue reading »

Ever been in a meeting where new ideas die fast from conflict? Here’s a great way to get everyone on board: we call it “yes and”. This improv game can get the creative juices flowing for every meeting – and even diffuse some buyer resistance in a sales call! Continue reading »

Since hearing about Steve Jobs passing away yesterday, I keep finding my thoughts going from the here and now to re-evaluating and remembering my own life and journey over the same years that he built his career. Continue reading »