Is your team all pulling in the same direction

The news media is full of stories with mixed messages on the economy and uncertainty is in the air. What effect does all this news have on your staff, employees and teammates? Probably not a positive influence, but how do you counteract all the negative energy?

Everyone has a desire to belong to a group. Take a look at all the energy, excitement and anticipation surrounding college and professional football this season. Is it just me, or is this fall different with a heightened desire to use sports to re-energize the country. If you want an example, take a look at the New Orleans Saints and how a football team is helping with the continuing restoration of a devastated city.

So, how do you transfer positive team influence to your employees and co-workers? What steps have you taken to rebuild your company or school team spirit? How about adopting a charitable cause and pitching in your time and teamwork to improve your community. Find a way to make a difference in the lives of strangers by pitching in and giving back. Recruit a team, get a team t-shirt and walk in a fundraiser for cancer, ALS, the homeless, etc... Start your team on the path to all be pulling in the same direction for a common cause and see how that pride will translate to a better work environment.

At Dacobi, we take pride in our support for Hillcrest Transitional Housing, the Park Hill Clothing Center, Mike's Goofy Friends ALS team, Bruce's Battalion ALS Team, Run for the Silent, JDRF Thunder run, the Compassionate Friends and Brandon's Foundation. If you need a team running or t-shirt check out our super competitive prices for charitable events. We believe in helping groups build team spirit by helping others.

Social Media. If you build it, will they come?

Now that you have read all the hype on Social Media, built your Facebook Fan page, started to Twitter, posted a couple of blogs, updated your profile on Linked In, and have linked all your social media to your website..... where are your fans, followers and friends?

Is it like the movie "Fields of Dreams" if you build it... they will come? or do you have to use traditional marketing tactics to drive fans, followers and friends to your social media? Despite the dire predictions from all the vendors selling Social Media, the traditional methods of marketing communication are not yet dinosaurs.

We are evolving toward a better way of communication to our target audiences with social media, but like all evolutions... it's a process. It's a Catch 22 (I must have movies on my mind). If your audience is not yet using social media, how will they ever become a fan. Or if they are a heavy user of social media, how will they find you if they don't know you exist? The answer is you have to communicate it to them in every way possible, even the ways of the dinosaurs.

Do you have your Facebook url on your business cards? or in your email signature? Do you include your Linked In information in your email newsletter ? Do you share your social media addresses on your promotional products, just like your phone number and website? Just because you have built it... it's does not mean they will come....especially if they can't find you. FYI.... http://www.linkedin.com/in/britmcpherson

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Facebook Fan Page Dacobi, Inc

Finding your Target Markets

I recently gave a presentation to a networking group and asked the question... How many can name their top three target markets? Surprisingly only a few in the audience raised their hands! Is this a result of a weak economy where we shotgun our approach to the market or is this a lack of understanding for the need to target selected prospects? Probably a combination of both.

With limited marketing dollars and resources, it is more critical today to define and target selected prospects. Ask yourself these questions: Who are you trying to sell to? Who is your ideal client? What is your current mix of clients and what do they have in common? What impact has the economy or current events had on these prospects? For example, If you are selling fishing supplies do you concentrate on markets in the Gulf of Mexico? Probably not a good idea today. Take the answers to these questions and start to narrow down your top three target markets. Filter your list to take into consideration markets that have been harshly impacted by the economy or current events.

If you analyze your current client base and determine that 10% or more of your business comes from one group, you have found a target market. You already know what and how you sell to this group, so the challenge is to find more targeted prospects from this group. Ask your current clients for referrals, join their networking group and market solutions to their problems. Repeat the same exercise for similar groups to find your three target markets. Focus your efforts on these target markets to maximize your selling efforts, but be aware of new emerging markets for future targeted marketing campaigns.

Marketing...Hunting or Farming?

Do you think of Marketing as hunting for new clients or farming prospects to discover new clients? It is a distinct difference in philosophy and execution. Your attitude dramatically impacts your outlook, budget and expectations for marketing your business. Are you using today's economy as an excuse to lean toward a hunting approach to Marketing? Quick results that drive today's sales or a long term look at marketing for today and in the future.

A weak economy is a tempting excuse to cut marketing expenses, since sales are not keeping up with expectations. The easy answer is not always the best approach and cutting marketing only sets up a downward sales cycle. The better approach is to re-examine your target markets, your sales personnel and your marketing strategy and tactics. If your market has shifted, you need to shift with the market as opposed to blaming sales and cutting the marketing budget. If your sales personnel are using techniques from the 1950's, maybe they need up to date training. If your marketing consists of print advertising and the yellow pages, maybe you need to look at social media marketing.

Marketing is not hunting. It is not the quick sale and the last time you see your customer is in your rear view mirror. Marketing is farming, cultivating customers by learning how your product or service helps them, not how you can sell them a product. Marketing is planting seeds of interest, sharing success stories from satisfied customers and cultivating long term business relationships. Take a long term approach to your marketing and be patient as it takes more work and effort to nurture customers. Would you rather be the farmer that can feed his family and thousands of other families or the hunter that can barely keep himself fed?

How do you stay top of mind?

The most important result of your marketing efforts is to make sure your prospective buyer knows about you or your company when they decide to buy. How do you accomplish this task? How do you stay top of mind at the time of purchase?

The first task is to make sure your target audience knows what you do, so you need to spend time starting conversations. The goal of this first task is to invite further communication, since you can't have a productive dialog with yourself. Collect email addresses for your e-newsletter, ask for people to follow you on twitter or become a fan on facebook or to read your blog. Communicate that you have several ways that people can benefit by starting a conversation with you.

The second task is to communicate on a regular basis that your product or service can help solve their problems or address their needs. Look through the eyes of the buyer and consider why should they purchase your product. What benefit do they receive by using your company? Why should they do business with you? Spend time continuing the conversation with recommendations from other clients and posting case studies and success stories.

Staying top of mind is one of the hardest things to accomplish since it's not a onetime event. It takes more than one advertisement, more than one email, more than one conversation. It's a dialog that continues so you are top of mind when the buyer is ready to buy. Does your marketing plan include starting dialogs with prospective buyers? If not, maybe it should.

What's your Personal Brand

Everyone has a personal brand. The key question is do you work to improve your brand or are you unaware you even have a brand. I am not sure what is worse... not working your brand or not having a clue as to your brand.

Most people associate a brand with a national company like Nordstrom or Toyota and not with an individual. Shop at Nordstrom's and experience one of the best customer service experiences on the planet. Look up the residual value of a Toyota six months ago vs. today and find out what happens when a company neglects it's brand.

So... What's your personal brand. To discover the answer, ask several people the question.. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear my name? If they say professional, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, etc... you have a positive brand and you are on the right track. If not, you may need to polish your personal brand.

At a minimum you need to nurture your personal brand on a weekly basis. One of the best ways is the use of Social Media to share your unique skills and knowledge with your networks. Think of ways to make the world a better place one day or person at a time and then share your charitable acts to inspire others to do the same. Build a positive personal brand... one Facebook posting at a time.

Don't assume people know what you do

Have you ever experienced the following conversation? It starts with your friends, family, and clients saying, "I did not know you sold clothing, assisted with marketing, or did embroidery, we just purchased from XYZ. "You get a stunned look on your face and have to explain that you could have saved them money and provided better service and quality. It all adds up to lost business because you assumed that everyone knows what you do.

My father passed down some communication wisdom by taking the word "assume" and breaking it down into three parts. The first three letters "ass" the fourth letter "u" and the remaining "me". The saying goes as follows: if you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. He was not talking about marketing, but general communication skills. He is a practicing attorney and believes you never assume the facts, that you must clearly state your position without assuming.

Marketing follows the same principals of never assuming that people know what you do. Marketing communication with emails, direct mail, websites, twitter, facebook, blogs, linkedin, etc. must all be used to communicate what you do. Tell success stories of how your clients have successfully used your products and services and avoid lost business.