Your Contact Database is Gold

You collect contact information such as names, company, email address, phone number, etc.  all day long.  If not you should be.  You get business cards.  You get emails.  You read business journals.  You get phone calls.  You go to networking events.  You attend trade shows and conferences.  Put this information to good use.

Get it into your database whatever that is – either a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system preferred), Outlook, Constant Contact contacts, Quickbooks accounting system, spreadsheets (least preferred) or whatever.  These are the people you are going to market to.  The cleaner it goes in (no missing info) the better it will be in the long run.

Collecting is great, but use what you collect.  Email marketing is still important.  You need to communicate to your customers and prospects.  And don’t forget the media, your partners, your vendor and your employees.  You can’t communicate if you don’t have their information.  Again your contact database is gold.

Your Email Database

In most cases, your email database contacts are different than your CRM database contacts or your customers in your accounting system.  You need to periodically (preferably after every email blast or email newsletter that you send out) clean up the database.  Most email systems such as Constant Contact have reports that will show you the bounced email addresses.  Make sure that you clean up the email database and the database that this information came from.  You need someone at your organization that is responsible for cleaning up and adding to the database.

Your Customer Database

Don’t forget to look at your database of customers periodically.  You need to retain your current customers.   Analyze your customers by size, market, location (such as state), money spent with you, product/service lines, etc.  Guaranteed you will discover something that will help your organization.  Update your customer entry immediately if you receive a change of address form or hear that someone has left their employment.

Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)

Your social media networks are databases.  You need to clean these databases as well.  Search for new people to follow or connect with.  Remove followers or connections that do not add any value to you such as someone on Twitter that does not follow you and has not Tweeted in over 30 days. If possible get the people that are following you in your social networks into your email database so that you can communicate with them in ways other than social media.

I Know It is Not Fun

Cleaning up your database is like weeding the garden.  Not enjoyable, but absolutely needs to be done periodically.

Develop a system for tracking all incoming leads

Once a lead comes in (over the phone, at an event or on your website), someone has to be tasked with keeping track of the lead status so leads do not fall through the cracks.  Get the lead into your CRM system quickly.  Lost leads are lost opportunities.  Lost opportunities are lost money.  Quick response is often necessary or that lead will go somewhere else.  So often great marketing campaigns have no or little sales follow up.  That’s is wasted money and effort.

Converting leads into customers is how you grow your organization or company.  And for you to followup on leads you need a good contact database that is accurate.  Your contact database is gold so take care of it.

My 3 Words for 2012 – Relax, Engage, Active

The beginning of a new year is always exciting. You can start new.  You are hopefull for a great year.  You are optimistic. It is a time to refect and plan for the year.

Just like last year, I’ve picked three words that I will keep in mind throughout 2012.  The 3 words idea came to me when I read What Matters Now, a series of short essays each on a different word. It’s a free ebook conceived by Seth Godin and edited by Ishita Gupta.  Chris Brogan has encouraged others to select their 3 words for the year.

My 3 words for 2012 are Relax, Engage and Active.

RELAX –  My mind is always on the go.  I do think about work way to much.  Often times waking up with thoughts of what needs to get done at work.  I do need to RELAX more and not worry about work, family and the future all the time.  Nothing is gained by being stressed.  I will take more moments to relax in 2012.

ENGAGE – 2012 was a busy year for me.  I did many things but often times they were done either individually or with my team at work.  I am much better at engaging with people then doing individual tasks.  I need to get out more and talk to clients, vendors, partners, employees and consultants.  I need to travel more and go where they are.  I need to expand myself and my comfort zone.  It will be fun to get out and ENGAGE with others and be very beneficial to myself, others and my company.

ACTIVE – To get stuff done I need to be ACTIVE and “Just Do It” or “Ship It”. I need to have energy so eating right, getting the necessary sleep and working out are very important.  I need to stop sitting behind my desk and get outside and walk more.

I will try to keep these 3 words in mind throughout the year.

In 2011 my 3 words were focus, streamline and active.  I think I did a good job on the 1st 2 words but definitely could have done better on the 3rd word.  That is why I kept it for 2012.

What are your three words for 2012?

Last Post of the Year 2011 – Thank You and Happy Holidays

I would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and wish everyone a great 2012. The past year flew by and contained many great moments and many sad moments. I’m very happy that 2011 is over and that a new year is upon us. A new year always means new hope. Just like at the beginning of the baseball season there is always hope as your team is equal to everyone else and could win the World Series. Please take some time to reflect on 2011, set goals for 2012 and do some planning on whatever it is you do professionally as well as personally. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

First of all, I want to thank my family for putting up with me. Second, I want to thank my friends and the people I work with. In 2011, I had a full year of employment at a great company, Evisions. I love the company and the people I work with. I also love the challenge of the position, Director of Marketing.

In this last blog post of the year, I want to thank all my blog readers for your readership, support, and participation. I don’t blog often but do appreciate any feedback you give me. When talking to friends or family or reading an article, I still say to myself, “Oh, I must write a blog post about that” or “I should do a Twitter post on that”. I want to thank my readers for reading, for sharing your experiences and suggestions, and for asking your questions. I appreciate your engagement with me.

I want to thank all of my Twitter followers and those that I follow. Everyday I learn something new from the people I follow on Twitter. Again, I appreciate your engagement with me. I am looking forward to the opportunity in 2012 to meet more of the people I follow.

I want to thank all of my connections on Linkedin. This are my closest people to me in business. Many of these connections I have worked with and they are a part of me. I have connected with people that I knew when I was in elementary, middle and high school as well as college. It is a great tool in staying connected with people you care about. Thanks also to the individuals that manage the groups that I partake in and to the people that submit content to these groups. It is a great tool for staying informed and in touch.

I want to thank all of my Facebook friends. I love seeing your posts and photos. I will be expanding my use of Facebook in 2012.

I am thankful for all the great social media tools out there. I am thankful for the members of the Social Media Masterminds of Orange County (SMMOC) group that I belong to. Attending these meetings have been very educational.

Please take a few days off over this holiday season to spend time with loved ones, with your mind cleared of work ideas and to-dos. Downtime is vital for recharging your energy, creativity and perspective. I want to wish you and those you care about all the best .

Let’s make 2012 a great year. Just Do It!

My 3 Words for 2011 – Focus, Streamline, Active

The first week of a new year is always exciting and optimistic.  This year, I’ve picked three words that came to me  when I read What Matters Now, a series of short essays each on a different word.  It’s a free ebook conceived by Seth Godin and edited by Ishita Gupta.

My 3 words for 2011 are Focus, Streamline and Active.

FOCUS – I’m busy at home and work.  I’m bombarded by emails and information from social media.  There are many things I can be doing but I need to FOCUS on what is important.  Health and Family need to be a primary concern for me in 2011.

STREAMLINE – Once I’ve focused on what’s important I need to be very efficient and STREAMLINED on the tasks relevant to those items.  I need to select tools and learn how to use those tools so that I can accomplish my key items quickly and efficiently.

ACTIVE – To get stuff done I need to be ACTIVE and “Just Do It” or “Ship It”.  I need to have energy so eating right, getting the necessary sleep and working out are very important.

I will try to keep these 3 words in mind throughout the year.

What are your three words for 2011?

Share the Knowledge – Document Your Processes

All companies and organizations have processes that allow them to perform smoothly no matter what department.  Much of these processes are in someone’s head.  It is critical that these processes get documented.  You never know when an employee that knows the process will get sick or quit the company or organization.  And when these individuals go on vacation, it is better to have a document to train the backup person with then just a verbal training.  A well documented process will save the company/organization time and money.  I just documented for a client how social media updates in Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Linkedin Groups are done so others in the organization can do these updates.

Therefore I suggest the following:

1. Create a template for what a documented process will look like and what a process document will include.
2. Create a spreadsheet list of the suggested processes to be documented along with the primary person to write the process and the secondary person that will a review the documented process.    Prioritize the processes to know which ones to document  first.
3. Communicate to the staff (including those not involved in the documentation process) that processes are being documented and welcome their involvement and suggestions.
4. Assign the processes to individuals and document one process a month.  After a few months the company or organization will have a process manual.  When companies or organizations are audited, one of the requirements is to have well documented processes.
5. Store the documented processes in a shared directory so everyone can access it if necessary.
6. When new employees are hired, show them where the processes are documented so that they can review the ones that apply to them.
7. Review these processes once a year and update them with any new changes to the process.  I suggest that you do this review in December when business is slow so that the processes are updated by the start of the new year.

While documenting processes, questions and issues about processes will occur.  For example, why do we make so many copies of invoices.  Can’t we only make one copy and do an electronic version.    Make sure that your company/organization is protected by having important processes documented in all departments.  Make it part of the company/organization culture to document processes and have everyone’s involvement in documenting the processes.

If You Want Me to Follow You on Twitter – Give Me a Reason

In recent meeting we discussed completeness of Twitter profiles and that got me thinking of how I determine what people or companies or organizations to follow.

I might become aware of someone on Twitter from the following:

• You follow me
• Someone I know recommends you or mentions you in a Following Friday (#FF)
• I see a RT from someone I follow of one of your tweets that interests me
• You are following someone that I know
• You come up in a search I do through Hootsuite or Twitter

I might want to follow you because of the following:

• You are close to me geographically
• You are someone I know
• You are a person knowledgeable in marketing or social media
• You might be a person that one of the companies or organizations that I do social media for would be interested in following you

So when I look to follow you on Twitter, here is what I look for:

• On your profile I look at your picture if you are an individual or your logo if you are a company or organization.  If you have not spent the time to provide a picture that shows something to me.  If a person, make it a one person picture.  I know family and pets are important but this is your profile.
• On your profile I read your bio.  If you do not have a bio, how can I decide who you are.  If you are a person, put down what you do and some of your interests.  If you are a company or organization put down what you do or sell.  It probably is the same wording as you have on your website.
• On your profile I look at the website where I can get additional information on you or your company or organization.  If a company it should be your company’s website.  If a person it should be your personal website, your blog, your Linkedin page or your Facebook page.  If I am in doubt about following you this additional source of information might sway me in following you.
• On your profile I look at the location you put in.  If I don’t know where you are located I probably will not follow you.  Have your city, your county or your location such as “Southern California” on your profile.  If you are local to me and someone that I can meet at a local Tweetup I might be swayed to follow you.
• I look to see if you protect your tweets and make me send you a request to follow.  Protected tweets sends me a message that you only want to communicate with a very close group of people.
• I look at how many tweets or updates you have sent out.  If you have sent out no updates or only a few that does not make me want to follow you.  I tell newbies to send out Tweets even if you don’t have any followers yet.  Show people what you tweet about.
• I look at your recent tweets and see what you tweet out about.  If it is the same tweet all the time that does not interest me.  If your tweets are only about you then that does not interest me.  If your tweets are just quotes or retweets then that does not interest me.
• I look at the last time you sent a tweet or update.  If it is over a month ago I will not follow you.  I can see taking a few days or weeks off from Twitter but over 30 days is too long for me.
• I look at how many people or accounts you follow.  I might be interested in following you in the hope that you follow me back.  I understand that some people, companies and organizations have accounts only for sending out information and do not follow back.  But others I want to see that you do follow people back.

So in summary complete your profile and send out interesting tweets.  Give me a reason to follow you.

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Start Your Product/Service Launch with a Key Messaging Document

When a product or service is launched by your organization you need to have consistent messaging.  This is accomplished by having a Key Messaging Document or KMD.  The KMD is done by the marketing product manager or individual that understands the purpose of the product.  Sometimes if there is disagreement on messaging or messaging wording then having a meeting to discuss is helpful.  Once you have a KMD completed and approved, the press release can be written as well as the FAQ and presentation for sales training.  The KMD should be no more than a page and a half but preferably one page.

The KMD should contain the following information:

• Official product name as well as the internal product name if there is one
• Marketing champion(s) which is the person or persons responsible for the KMD
• Mention what is being announced
• Dates including announce date and release date if different from announce date
• Approvers of KMD which should be the boss of the marketing champion and others from different areas of the company so that the messaging is agreed to by a variety of people
• Proposed news release title which should be descriptive and catchy
• Key messages to convey
• Compelling value to clients such as faster, cheaper, greener, easier, etc.
  
• Competitive positioning
• Target audience of messaging such as partner sales reps, industry analysts, press and end users
• Supporting external quotations such as a from a client or partner
• Related event(s) and their date(s) such as a trade show that the announcement will be made.

Try to get the KMD completed at least a month before the product or service launch so that other documents such as news release and launch FAQ can be completed. Having a clear concisely worded KMD will make the launch more effective.  This document will be used often during the launch including in the FAQ, presentation and news release.  A KMD will also assist everyone being on the same page.