Are you an Expert?

I've heard this many times. Some marketing and communication professionals think that since the publishing of content is rather easy, there is little or no chance to truly create a remarkable message and unique story.
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. If you believe this, stop right now and follow this plan.

1. Your Content Strategy - The stories you tell as a brand do not just compete with your actual competitors. They compete with the niche trade magazines in your industry, the bloggers in your industry, Google and every other piece of content that your customers engage in. That means your content MUST be the best. It MUST be innovative. It MUST tell a unique and compelling story for you to be the industry expert. If it doesn't, you have work to do.

2. The Water Cooler - If only great content were enough. Content plus community is what gives fuel to the fire. Where are your customers at on the web or in person? That's where you need to be. Identify those key places, target the top five, and become a part of that community by offering consistently helpful information. Outsider content will bounce off your customers like a shield. Insider content engages, is accepting and creates real value.

3. The Major Tactics (book and blog) - It may sound cliché, but industry experts write industry books. Look at the key thought leaders in your industry. They all have books, don't they? They also have pretty compelling blogs. While both of these are tactical, these are "money in the bank" tools that show your expertise as an individual and a brand. If you (the brand) say that you are the experts in mechanical engineering for roller coasters, let me see the book. No book? Sorry, come back next time.

As the great Chris Rock says, "don't hate the player, hate the game." Are you an industry expert or not?

The Last (?) Word on Social Media

Five Reasons Social Media Marketing Comes Last


There’s been a lot of talk lately about companies that are abandoning a website in favor of social media marketing. To me, that’s an experiment I believe will fail, because if there’s one thing I’m certain about, it’s that social media marketing should come LAST. Why would someone say that?

Because it’s true. To start with, social media isn’t a marketing platform. It’s a consumer platform.

Marketing platforms like advertising, direct marketing, and telemarketing are one-way communication platforms. A company creates the message, and delivers it creatively in hopes that the consumer will respond. The company is in control of the message – and the only voice consumers have is to “vote with their wallets” by acting on the marketing message, or not.

Social media is a consumer platform, where teenagers in Melbourne, customers in Minneapolis, and prospective buyers in Midlothian all have the same opportunity to voice their opinions, ask questions, and share experiences. Consumers are in control of the message, and they revel in their control. Marketers can join in the conversation, and help to shape the dialogue, but it is definitely not a place where traditional marketing methods work, and it is definitely not a one-way communication platform.

So why bother with social media marketing at all? Because it’s where your customers are turning for information about the products and services they buy. Consider Facebook alone. If it was a country, it would be one of the 25 largest in the world – smaller than the U.S., China, and India, but bigger than Indonesia, Israel, Denmark, and Canada. Over half of all consumers say that they have already purchased something – or switched to another brand or retailer – because of a recommendation they got through a social media site.

It is no longer a question of whether or not corporate brands should be participating in social media – it’s just a question of how they can use the new online communities to help them get the word out. This is where the confusion comes in. Social media is where the customers are – and you have to be there. So why shouldn’t you just scrap the old methods and jump headlong into the new medium?

Because social media is a great place to share information, and introduce consumers to your company and your products, but there are five important reasons that it comes LAST in your marketing plan.


1. Customers look for recommendations and reviews on social media – and then head to your website to make a final purchase decision. Your website is the place where you can SELL your products and services. Social media is the place where you introduce a potential customer to your brand.
2. You own and control your website, but you don’t own or control any social media platform. I’ve known people who were banned from Facebook or another social media site for violating a rule or policy – and sometimes for no apparent reason at all. When you get banned, you lose it all. All of your content, all of your contacts, erased in an instant. That just doesn’t happen with a website you own – and you make your own rules for your website, so you’re sure not to inadvertently break them! Even if your host comes crashing down in an emergency, a back-up can have you back on line in minutes.
3. Social media is a great amplifier – and it does just that. For something to be amplified, it has to exist first. So your brand identity, your marketing message, your logo and your content all needs to exist separately from social media, and be based on solid planning and execution, so that social media can amplify it.
4. Marketing platforms – advertising, websites, email, e-newsletters, PR, webinars, special events, catalogs, etc. – reach the audience you define. Social media reaches an audience that defines itself. The Toyota Scion XB is a good example – Toyota marketed the boxy car to hip urban dwellers in their 20’s – but someone’s grandmother discovered that it’s design was perfect for her arthritic knees, and the 55+ crowd started raving about the XB on social media sites. Now 60% of Scion sales are to those over 50. There’s nothing wrong with that of course. But what if a club finds itself besieged by underage fans who want to see their favorite band because a viral campaign didn’t clarify that it wasn’t an “all ages show”? You need both the controlled message and the opportunity to benefit from a viral buzz.
5. Social media is a broad platform – but it isn’t deep. It’s impossible to go into much detail in a 140-character tweet. And it’s almost as hard to go into detail in most other social media platforms. The best social media campaigns refer people to great websites, downloadable content, memorable videos, or valuable information.

So, for now, I remain convinced that a great website (or blog for small businesses) is the hub of any great marketing campaign. Traditional marketing is far from over – but it has evolved, and social media is a huge part of that. When was the last time you got a piece of direct mail that didn’t have a website address for you to visit? Every morning I listen to NPR (National Public Radio), and every morning the broadcasters invite me to tweet them my questions or fan their Facebook page.

Marketing today is the art and science (dare I say the Zen?) of leveraging multiple platforms to get your message across so that you can motivate people to take action. The goal is the same now as it was in our parent’s day. Only the tools keep changing.

Many thanks to Shama Kabani, the author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing, which hits store shelves this week.

More Sage Advice

Companies that think they can replace the meotional connections of a get together with a webinar or a newsletter will quickly see a decline in the effectiveness of their workforce.

People like destinations and they like trips. They'll work hard to go . . . and they'll be . . . inspired when they return.

We can talk all day online. We can Skype, tweet and email every second of the day. I can create meaningful relationships with individuals on the other side of the globe. I can network wiht multiple industries. But, I will never have a the same appreciation for an individual until I meet them face to face.

Face to Face matters.

I've never been invited to the American Mensa Annual Gathering. Have you?

Face Time. It Matters

No amount of virtual connectivity will ever suffice because face-to-face provides things that online conversations can never deliver: touch, the complex emotional valences of expression and smell, inflection or tone of voice. The difference between a smiley face and an actual smile is too large to calculate.

Face Time. It Matters.

The average corporate worker spends more than 40 percent of his or her day sending and receiving some 200 messages. We check it in the car, we check it before bed and when we get up. We check it even in mid-converstion, assuming no one will notice. It goes with us everywhere.

Face Time. It Matters.

Tourism-The Economic Engine

The travel community celebrated a major victory today when President Obama signed into law the first-ever national travel promotion and communications program to attract more international travelers to the U.S. The historic moment, commemorated during a White House signing ceremony, is a major step in addressing America’s decline in attracting overseas visitors to the U.S. during the past decade.
The Act is in response to worrisome evidence that the U.S. is losing ground to other countries in the global travel market. The U.S. welcomed 2.4 million fewer overseas visitors in 2009 than in 2000, and the failure to simply keep pace with the growth in international long-haul travel since 2000 has cost the U.S. economy an estimated $509 billion in total spending and $32 billion in direct tax receipts, according to the U.S. Travel Association. The Travel Promotion Act will counteract this trend by creating a campaign to promote the United States as a premier destination and explain changing travel security policies to foreign visitors.

“By signing the Travel Promotion Act, President Obama has acted to support the power of travel to serve as an economic stimulant, job generator and diplomatic tool,” said Roger Dow, president & CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “This program will create tens of thousands of American jobs and help reverse negative perceptions about travel to the United States.”
Dow thanks President Obama and Congressional supporters of this legislation, in particular Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), John Ensign (R-NV), Harry Reid (D-NV), Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Representatives Bill Delahunt (D-10-MA), Roy Blunt (R-7-MO) and Sam Farr (D-17-CA) who championed the bipartisan legislation over the last several years. “The strong bipartisan support for this bill clearly demonstrates consensus on the value of this tax-free stimulus for job creation and economic growth,” Dow said.

“We have already seen the benefits of a public-private partnership in states like California and Florida,” said Caroline Beteta, president & CEO, California Travel & Tourism Commission.
“Destinations and local communities across the country will benefit from a comprehensive national effort to market the U.S. A. brand. The Travel Promotion Act will help keep the United States competitive in the international marketplace.”
Oxford Economics estimates that a successful national promotion will yield $4 billion in new spending annually, create 40,000 new jobs and generate $321 million in new tax revenue each year. The Congressional Budget Office reported that the Travel Promotion Act would reduce the federal deficit by $425 million over ten years.

Who Am I

In an effort to get to know each other a little better, I have devised this little game. It has nothing to dow with the Games or wiht Lexington. But it could be fun.

1. Device I would never give up... does a corkscrew count as a device?
2. Three things I can't live without... my debit card, wine and evidentially my wife.
3. My first real job was... paper boy.
4. I love watching... re-runs of NCIS. Which begs the question-Kate or Ziva?
5. I wish I had more... wine in the cellar. Or I guess what I really need is a cellar.
6. When I get home, I like to wear... sweats and a long sleeve tee. No pocket.
7. The best thing about being a parent is... watching your little girls become very strong women.
8. The worst thing about being a parent is... watching your little girls become very strong women and the prospect they will move on to lives of their own.
9. TWO important things I learned from my mother were... how to cook and faith in God.
10. TWO important things I learned from my father were... NEVER make your mom mad and you can do anything you want as long as you don't make your mom mad.

11. When I have an extra hour at home, I like to... nap
12. The location where I do my best thinking is... usually in the shower while I am planning for the day.
13. In the mornings... I head straight for the expresso machine.
14. I love to take vacations... and only worry about when is happy hour gonna start.
15. Something that really annoys me... automatic updates that insist I stop everything I'm doing to restart my laptop in order to continue working.
16. I make the best... veal picatta.

Now it's your turn! Want to share a little about yourself? Let's keep this moving and get to know a bit about one another!

She's leaving!

I know this is not really about the World Equestrian Games. It's not even about Lexington. It is only a little about me, in fact. It's about Emily. My youngest daughter.
She is leaving in the morning.
She is leaving the country.
She has a new job.
In another country.
And did I mention she leaves in the morning.
7AM.
Tomorrow.

And I am very proud.

She is going to work at the Winter Olympics in Whistler, BC.



And she is leaving in the morning.











And I wish I was going, too . . .