Review: Naked Conversations – How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers
First published August 7, 2008
Co-written by technology evangelists Robert Scoble from Microsoft and Shel Israel, a Silicon Valley tech guru, this book is a primer for those interested in understanding how blogs are changing the conversation between producers and consumers.
Fundamentally, blogging interferes with traditional corporate communications in that it is no longer possible for a company to ‘control’ their message. The book shares many examples of how this happens and presents case studies of companies who have handled the change well and those who haven’t. And then there are those who have been standing on the sidelines waiting to see if blogging just goes away. Continue reading
What K-12 Publishers Can Learn from Trade Publishers
First published July 10, 2008
The K-12 publishing market has different drivers than the trade market, no question, but as trade book publishers have been struggling for some time with dramatic shifts in their sales channels, in some ways they are well ahead of education publishers in learning how to best communicate with their readers online.
In a recent post at Booksquare, a blog about the book industry, Kassua Krozser has this to say on one our favorite topics – why publishers should add blogs to their websites: Continue reading
The Power of Customer Evangelism
This past week I was privileged to spend a few days with a client and their customer evangelists at the company's annual User's Conference. More than most companies who usually pay only lip service to listening to their customers, this company actually walks that talk. The result is a unique partnership between a company and it's user community.
There was a tangible feeling of shared ownership in the product as well as the relationships between company and users. The users were there to learn more about the product and to give their input into the company's strategic goals and objectives. Continue reading
The 3 Big Questions in Sales and Marketing
First published July 28, 2008
In most small companies sales and marketing is the responsibility of the same person. Often the person in charge has been with the company for some time and what they know about sales and marketing has been learned on the job. Sales and marketing are joined at the hip. In fact your strategic sales plan should be an outgrowth of your strategic marketing plan. Although there are multiple marketing objectives such as investing in customer relationships, building community, establishing your company as content expert in your field, etc., the fundamental purpose of marketing is (drum roll, please) to create sales opportunities.
It is amazing to me how many companies operate without full understanding of the answers to the following questions. So what are the key questions that should be answered for successful sales and marketing to occur? Continue reading
4 Surprising Email Marketing Situations and How to Avoid Them
First published August 6, 2008
Yesterday I participated in a webinar sponsored by Target Marketing Magazine that focused on getting the most out of your emails to customers. The presenters were sharing the results of a study across four vertical markets. I learned some amazing facts such as:
- 30% of marketers do not send an email to interested prospects within 30 days of the prospect making herself known to the company through a subscribe/send me more information process.
- Another 25% do not send the first email within 9 days.
- 60% do not send welcome messages.
- 70% collect enough information in the sign-up process to customize messages and then don't use the information. Continue reading
Your Customers Are Your Best Research Team
First published September 9, 2008
Taking the temperature of your customers or involving your customers in product development has never been easier. Large, expensive research surveys have their place but many research goals can be achieved by quick and easy online surveys.
There are a number of companies that provide this service and most give you an opportunity to test drive the software before making a commitment. Even if you decide to subscribe to their service, the cost is nominal. Survey Monkey, Zoomerang, QuestionPro, and Constant Contact are a few of the better known survey programs. Continue reading
“Old Marketing” v. “New Marketing”
First published September 14, 2008
Traditional marketing is still very much with us in K-12 publishing. Because of the institutional nature of our market, we still operate in “push” mode with direct mail, outbound sales, either in person or by phone, conferences, etc. For most K-12 publishers, sending occasional customer emails and offering online webinars and demos is as Web 2.0 as it gets. For educational publishers, it is still very much about filling the sales funnel moving prospects to customers through a multi-step process.
But even in educational publishing, this traditional model is giving way to something new. In traditional sales, the company was in charge of moving the process forward, and in the Web 2.0 world, the new driver is the customer. Continue reading
4 Guiding Principles for Navigating Uncertain Times
First published October 16, 2008
Even the financial pundits have admitted they do not know when the market lurching will end and national and international markets will settle down. With the intercession of the government, there is a general belief… Continue reading
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