Caine’s very first customer loved the arcade (and the value of a fun pass) so much that he wanted everyone to know about it. So he went to work on spreading the word to all of his friends. Who told their friends. You get the idea.

While there are many marketing stories to be told from this, what we love most is how Caine’s optimism, perseverance, and passion for his arcade resulted in a happy customer willing to tell his friends.

By: Ashlee Richards (_ashleer)

Well, folks. They’ve done it again.  Just as you thought your brand’s fan page was completely built out and finally at its peak, our good friends at Facebook threw us another change-up. They like to keep us on our toes, don’t they?  You can gripe and moan all you want… maybe even threaten to delete the account, but we all know that’s not going to happen. So take a few moments to shake your fist angrily at a photo of Mark Zuckerberg (ready… go), then just accept and adapt… mainly because you have no choice.  By March 30th all pages will be automatically updated to the Timeline layout.  You only have about a week left to preview and tweak before you publish, so you better get on it!

When I was asked to write a post about Timeline for pages, I thought “What can I write that’s not already out there?” But then I realized what I had looked for, but haven’t come across yet… a short, sweet, to the point, synopsis of what to expect with this whole Timeline thing and how to efficiently update the brand pages I manage.  Let’s be honest, we are busy people, and we don’t have time to scour multiple 50-page white papers and blog posts to uncover the 3 pages of actual information! So what I’m going to do is take everything I’ve learned via research and trial and error, and lay it out for you in a  comprehensive format that may be easily referenced.  We’ll go over the major effects that Timeline will have on your pages, and how to take advantage of those changes.  We’ll take a look at a couple of Timeline pages done well, and I’ll provide some great (and free!) resources you can use to optimize your page.

First, what does this whole Timeline thing mean to your page(s)?

Here are the top 6 effects that meant the most to me:

1. The thing that everyone is freaking out about… no more default landing pages!
Thanks a lot, Facebook. Now that landing page with the fancy like-gate and data capture fields that you paid a designer a pretty penny to create is no longer going to be the default when someone clicks on your page.  But fret not. With the cover image (billboard) space at the top of your timeline (we’ll talk specs below), you can brand the bejeezus out of your wall and it’s ALWAYS visible! (See: Macy’s and Coca Cola’s Timelines) Also, those landing pages can still be utilized. All installed applications will continue to own a unique URL you can share with people, so it’s not a complete loss.

2. More space in the “About” section = More space for calls-to-action
Even the minor updates can offer a major advantage.  The About section falls right under the profile thumbnail pic and provides the perfect real estate for a winning call-to-action.  Be sure to take advantage of the extra room to drive your fans where you’d like them to go. At the very least, include your website URL.

3. Tell your story
Milestones are a new feature that brands should take full advantage of.  Everybody likes a story, right? And stories make companies and brands seem more human. Use these milestones to lay out the life of the company.  When it started, when it introduced products or services, when it hired people, when it went public… just any ol’ thing that contributed to its success.  For instance, The New York Times has pimped out their timeline with milestones dating back to the publication’s birth in 1851. They even included an image of that first paper, back when it cost….. wait for it…… one penny a copy!

4. Control the user experience
The “Pin to Top” and “Highlighted Stories” are brilliant updates, so take advantage of them to ensure that visitors are seeing what you most want them to see.  Using the edit pencil at the top-right of every post, you can decide which post should be pinned to the top of your wall. Or you can highlight a story, by clicking the star, which blows it to the full width of the page, so it stands out.  By pinning a post to the top of your page, you can communicate the most important message (recent blog post, promo code, information about your business, etc.) to every visitor, and it will remain at the top for about 7 days. You could even use your branded cover graphic to point to that post… think about the possibilities!  Be creative… use it, and love it!

5. Improved customer service feature
There has always been that pain-point for users and brands that they couldn’t communicate via Facebook in a private manner.  If one wanted to interact with a brand, it had to be publicly displayed on the wall (if the page even allowed users to post!) Well, fret no more because there is a messaging feature on fan pages, so if I wanted to message you to tell you how awesome you are, instead of put it on blast for the world to see, I can!  And it will drop right into a messages folder that you can access when you’re using Facebook as your page.

6. Admin Panel Awesomeness
This is something that will make us look back on the old way of doing things and wonder “how did we manage like that for so long!?”  It’s a clean-looking dashboard that displays right above the banner space (and can be hid if you’re tired of scrolling past it) that shows you all of the recent *stuff* that’s going on with your fans. You’ll see recent notifications, likes, messages, and an insights overview.  If you want to view more in-depth analytics, there’s a big link to your Insights page, so you can easily access the updated, much sleeker data.

Bonus Update!
You can now create customized thumbnails for all of your apps!  Since they are larger and toward the top of the page, I was concerned that the generic logos that display with some of my apps would become eyesores, but alas! Facebook thought of that too. Get creative with these! I haven’t seen it heavily advertised, so here’s how you can access the feature (find the specific dimensions below):

- First, click the down arrow that expands the view so you can see all of your installed apps
- Hover over the desired app, and click the edit pencil
- Click “Edit Settings”
- Select “Change” that appears to the right of “Custom Tab Image:”
- And voila! You update it to be whatever you want!

Pretty sweet, huh?

As promised, here are a few dimensions that you will need to know to create the images for the updated design:

Banner Image: 830 x 315p.
The image will be stretched to fit these dimensions and must at least be 399p wide.

Profile Thumbnail: 180 x 180p

App Thumbnails: 111 x 74p

I want to mention a fabulous resource I stumbled upon while conducting my research. Mari Smith is a social media guru, and just about everything she produces is worth a read/watch.  She’s kind of my hero… hehe.  This article of hers is most helpful, and if you’re just beginning, download her Facebook checklist!

So, you see, the transition is not going to be as bad as one might think. There are lots of options and ways to improve your branding and customer service!  You have one week from today.  Accept that it has to be done, plan, and execute!  You’ll be happy you did… not to mention you’ll finally be rid of the Facebook reminders to upgrade to Timeline!

I tried to keep this short and sweet, so please, add a comment if you’re noticing more updates that should be mentioned!  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at arichards@eilertinc.com. Have a fantastic day, and happy Facebooking! 

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!

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!

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.

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:

Reflect on what really matters most to me
Determine where I am now
Where would I like to be?
Identify the gaps
Make plans. Plans with deadlines.
Tactical support: the details needed to get there
Track: progress

Set aside time to plan

Set aside quiet time to think, without distractions. I take December downtime every year to reflect on the past year, and decide what I’d like next year to bring.

What matters most: the magic element of achieving

Most goal setting starts with identifying what matters most to you. What are the top five values dear to you? For example: freedom? loyalty? family? Write them all down. Then identify the top five. Rank them.

This reveals what drives your behavior. And that will drive your achievement.

NOTE: as an employer, I feel very strongly that this step is private. It only works with self honesty, which cannot be accomplished if you have to share it with your boss. The accountability I required was honesty that the step was completed. I did not look at their journals.

Where are you today?

After defining your values, look at your current state of life. Using a holistic view, look at: personal accomplishment, physical health, mental & emotional well being, relationships, contribution, financial health and joy.

Personal accomplishment: includes work, learning, personal traits and hobbies
Physical health: health, fitness, sleeping patterns, eliminating bad habits
Mental/emotional well being: spiritual peace, happiness, passion for life
Relationships: romance, family, friendships and colleagues
Contribution: whatever it means to you – helping others, community, giving back.
Financial: being financially stable, able to fund the life you want
Joy: what makes your heart sing? hobbies, pampering, the beach, whatever.

Where would you like to be?

Here is the FUN part! IMAGINE. Imagine if anything were possible, what would your life look like in each of these areas? Take a piece of paper for each area and title the page. Then write down everything you can think of to describe the perfect life in each area. Dare to dream. Forget the present – this is about the future. Your future. Write a list, draw pictures, paste photos from magazines – it doesn’t matter how. Just do it.

Identify the gaps.

For each area, identify the difference between today and tomorrow. This difference is your goal.

Define a plan. With a deadline.

Take the #1 goal in each area, and list it on the top of each piece of paper. Each one should be specific and measurable. For example: “I will have $4,500 of credit card debt paid off.” or “I will take a two week vacation in New York City.” Now add a date.

The details of getting there.

Now think about all the small tasks between today and completion. Take one goal at a time. List each one below the goal, and the order you think they should be done in. Working back from your deadline, add completion dates for each task. Add them to your calendar. This is your plan.

Tracking your progress.

Every morning and evening, take a look at what tasks lie ahead for the day and week. Record completion for each one. Every week, take a look at how much was done, and which tasks need to be added to the following week. We’ve got a handy one page download to help.

Reap the rewards & enjoy!
Staying on task, you will soon see your ideal life realized. Enjoy the accomplishment!

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:

Outline #1:
1) State your idea in one to two sentences.
2) How is it different from others out there?
3) Where will you do business?
4) Who will be your direct customers? How many exist?
5) How will you market to your customers?
6) Who will sell your product/service? Will they work for you or someone else?
7) What is your pricing? How does it compare to competition?
8 ) How will you deliver to your customers?
9) What resources will you need to launch the business?

People: management team, contractors/freelancers, employees
Offices/storage
Knowledge and expertise needed (and how you will get it)
Technology needed
Cash needed for the first two years
Equipment
Etc.

10) Financial projections:

1) What is your start up cost?
2)Year 1, 2, 3 projections (top line) of revenue, costs, profits and cash flows (do year 1 by month). Make these “worst case” scenarios.

Outline #2:
One sentence description of business idea
Describe the industry: how big is it today? Is it growing or declining? How competitive is  it?
Describe business opportunity for the idea: why your idea is compelling
Describe target market, size of target market & growth rate over the past five and next five years
Describe management team
Describe required resources
Describe start-up timeline/milestones, year one and year two
Financial recap: summary income statement projections for start-up; year one and year two
What are upside opportunities?

A special note about resources

Every entrepreneur is known to ask this: how can I get this free? Who do I know to ask? Check with people you know and trust to get good information.

When drafting up financial estimates, remember that you may not need the fancy office to get your idea off the ground – often the first step in the start-up phase is to test the idea in the market before committing to a large outlay in cash.

Final note:

The goal of this study is to find the “market proof” the idea will fly – and a rough idea of the valuation if you do decide to court investors.

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

1)  Evaluate good business ideas from bad by writing the idea on paper. This forces you to really begin thinking the idea through.

2)  Create the initial research on market sizing, industry stability/growth and answer the question: will it make money over time? How long until we get our investment back?

3)  Saves time and money by determining if an idea is good enough to spend the effort and expense of developing full blown plan and due diligence.

Time: how long will it take?

A feasibility study is meant as a “quick & dirty” vetting of a business idea. A good general rule of thumb is to spend no more than 16 hours on it.

Money: how much should I spend on a feasibility study?

For the entrepreneur – spending next to nothing is the ideal. Remember, the purpose is to test an idea. Most information for this top-line review is readily available through sources like the Internet, free white papers, industry trade journal articles, surveys (on line or real time). There may be an occasional report that makes sense to buy ($49+) if the information will provide you with the insights needed to make a decision to move forward or not. Generally speaking, a few dollars spent for good information is cheaper than moving forward with ignorance.

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).

If the idea looks good, what is the next step?

A “yes” on the feasibility study leads to developing a more comprehensive business plan – with detailed financials, milestones, etc. Business plans usually take 80-100 hours in time, may require investment in information studies and include staffing, production, sales, distribution, marketing and finance plans.

Have you ever endured a product presentation that features screen after screen of whiz-bang stuff the product can do – and only an engineer could love? Although I admire the passion behind the “tell us everything about it”, the effect doesn’t move careers ahead.

Instead: think of who you are addressing and how they might use the product. Will it reduce time to prepare something? Could they do their job better? Will it assist in meeting bonus objectives?

As a very wise friend told me: “My teaching career took off when I realized my job was not to teach them everything I know, but to teach some things they don’t yet know.”

Think of all of the commercials you’ve seen recently, and which ones you remember. Chances are, the memorable ones involve a story of some type. Humorous, dramatic, or a simple vignette with a happy ending – it doesn’t matter. A story is easier to relate to and remember than a sheet of facts any day.

Using stories in advertising – known as the “slice of life” approach – is a time-tested and proven way to move more product. Think about the car commercial where the dad sends his daughter off to drive for the first time. It is a story that mirrors our own lives and we can identity with it.

Tips for creating a good story:
Have a good beginning, middle and end
Seek to tell a story that your customer can relate to
“Show, don’t tell” – think action instead of narration

Bonus tip: Add an unexpected ending if you can – the surprise catches people off guard & increases their ability to recall it.

Happy selling!