Strive to Eliminate Posted 11/20/2008 by TomB, Acct Mgr

Pulled from source:
http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/08/13/the-not-to-do-list-9-bad-habits-to-stop-now/

Tim Ferris (author of the 4-Hour Workweek) lists 9 "not-to-dos" for the entrepreneur to "strive to eliminate":

This week I realized once again how “not-to-do” lists can be just as effective—often more so—than to-do lists for upgrading performance. The reason is simple: what you don’t do determines what you can do. Here are nine stressful and common habits that entrepreneurs and office workers should strive to eliminate. Focus on one or two at a time, just as you would with high-priority to-do items.

I’ve worded them in no-to-do action form:
1.) Do not answer unrecognized phone calls
2.) Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
3.) Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
4.) Do not let people ramble—forget “how’s it going?” and embrace “what’s up?”
5.) Do not check e-mail constantly—“batch” and check at set times only
6.) Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers
7.) Do not work more to fix overwhelm—prioritize
8.) Do not carry a cellphone or Crackberry 24/7, seven days a week—make evenings and/or Saturdays digital leash-free.
9.) Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should It’s hip to focus on getting things done, but it’s only possible once we remove the constant static and distraction.
 
If you have trouble deciding what to do, just focus on not doing to re-focus. Different means, same end. Embrace the anti-Nike: Just don’t do it.

#1 and #5 is a problem for me personally.
First, As a Regional Account Manager, if my phone rings. I answer it. ALWAYS... 
I only don't answer my phone if I am on the line with a potential client or existing customer. After my call is done, I trace the call back on my caller ID. What would happen if I did not answer my phone?  I could miss an opportunity to not give a potential client the great services we provide.

Second, I get a fresh new e-mail that comes in.  How can I resist? What if it's urgent? I had 2 potential customers requesting an online demostration and wanted a call back ASAP to talk the details.

Your thoughts?

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	Is Direct Mail Dead Yet? Posted 11/19/2008 by PeterV, VP, Marketing

How is direct mail still effective?  I mean, it must be, right?  If it wasn't, someone would've figured that out by now.  That, or survival of the fittest would've killed off the companies spending millions on junk mail.

OK, maybe direct mail done right works, but today I saw an example of it done wrong.  Horribly wrong.  Take a look at this pic:



In the mail were tons and tons of duplicate paces of direct mail.  Here's today's haul by the numbers:

Number of Lands End Business Outfitters Catalogs: 13
Number of Godiva Chocolate Catalogs: 4
Number of Chocolate purchasers at 352 Media Group: 0
Number of "Business Writing & Grammar Made Fun" seminar brochures: 2
Number of people who think grammar is fun at 352 Media Group: 0
Number of Adobe training brochures: 4
Number of mail paces to people who don't work here anymore: 7
Number of mail paces to people who don't work from this office: 4
Number of times CEO Geoff's named was spelled "Jeff": 1

Let's take Lands End, for example.  That is a company we actually use for our corporate attire.  About a year back they made a big todo about the launch of personalized e-stores.  Basically it's a store just for our employees to shop for attire with our logo on it.  Great idea, especially since we're a Web company.  Their sales to us must've doubled (guessing).  So why keep sending us the paper catalogs? 

In this age of giving a damn about the environment, I hope this type of wasteful, irresponsible, and ineffective marketing goes the way of the fax machine...and soon!

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	The Intern Den, Episode Three Posted 11/18/2008 by PeterV, VP, Marketing

Love is in the air in this week's episode of the intern den.  I'll just point out that NBC's "My own worst enemy" with Christian Slater has already been cancelled, but the Intern Den is going strong!

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	Branding to Multiple Audiences: Doing it the Web Way Posted 11/18/2008 by Raina, Project Mgr

Addressing Your Audience the Wrong Way

Make sure your branding for your different audiences is done the appropriate way with the appropriate messages. Never under estimate the power of the Web when it comes to branding.  Motrin learned the hard way.  Motrin recently had a big PR fiasco with their Motrin Mom Campaign.

The campaign featured print and Web advertisements attempting to connect mothers through the common painful experience of carrying a child. I don’t have kids nor am I around kids often, so I take no offense to the campaign. However, I do recognize how Mortin didn’t necessarily take into consideration how their message may have been perceived by mothers.  The response received ended up being a major downfall for Motrin’s brand image. It all started with a few mothers twittering about how outraged and offensive they found the campaign. The end result…a PR nightmare for Motrin. 

There was even a YouTube video posted, Motrin Ad Makes Moms Mad, featuring images of women carrying their children and angry tweets regarding the Mortin Mom Campaign, with tweets such as:   

• “Wow Motrin, way to mismarket. My sling is saving my life and has been for 15 months now.  Have you tried carrying a baby all day?”  
• “Wow motrin, your REALLY messed up with that ad. No more motrin for my family.”  
• "They obviously did not consult any real moms when making the ad…it’s a shame.”  
• “My complaint: I just watched Motrin’s offensive anti-babywearing ad. You’ve lost a customer.”  

In regards to social media on the Web, talk about the opposite effect a company strives to achieve. And what did Motrin have to say for themselves?  In a nutshell, “We have heard you… please accept our sincere apology.” I hate to break it to you Motrin, but you may want to come up with something better than that to patch up your brand image and customer loyalty. 

Addressing Your Audience the Right Way

While some products or services are created for a certain niche, many products have the ability to stretch across several audiences. When it comes to the Web, you can rework your existing content, Web site navigation and your user’s overall experience to make sure that the right message reaches the right audience.  

Create Personas
Personas, also called “customer profiles” or “audience profiles,”  have become a popular technique for Web development based on audience needs and expectations. Personas help you envision your Web site’s users, their goals, tasks they want to accomplish and expectations. This is a great way to help you create a Web site that your audience can connect with. Here are some persona resources: USDA -- Audience Analysis and Personas, and Overview of Personas.

Be Aware Your Audiences Differences  
Different audiences respond to different messages. Some of your users may be more receptive than others to the messages you are trying to convey.  Complete an audience analysis of your Web site’s users and cater to meet their needs.

Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS)  
This key marketing concept applies when your targeted audience is a wide range of audiences. When you are creating content for your Web site keep it basic and in the users vocabulary.  

Think About Your International Audience  
Making your Web site multi-lingual is necessary if you have users who do not speak English. If your products/services are used internationally and your Web site doesn’t support foreign languages, then you are missing out on potential business from your audience. For example, The Salvation Army Canada Web site where users can toggle from English to French.  

Analyze Search Data  
Research keywords your users are typing into your Web site’s search. You want to make sure the keywords they are using are the same keywords you’re using on your site. This will also help with search engine optimization.  

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	Microsoft: 100 Million Silverlight Downloads in 4 Weeks Posted 11/18/2008 by Declan, Acct Mgr

In what is increasingly becoming a war of words between Microsoft and Adobe, the two companies seem to time announcements about Silverlight and Flash respectively in an effort to steal the other’s thunder. Last night, a few hours before the embargo lifted on a bundle of announcements Adobe was making at their annual MAX conference, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division Scott Guthrie put out a post on his blog about the state of Silverlight and hinted at upcoming features in Silverlight 3, which should ship next year.

Guthrie was obviously very positive on Silverlight and the strides Microsoft has made in 2008 in getting the browser plugin out onto consumer machines. According to Guthrie, since the release of Silverlight 2 last month, the plugin has been downloaded over 100 million times, and some version of Silverlight is installed on 1 in 4 web connected computers. That’s pretty good for a technology that initially debuted under 20 month ago.

Guthrie also took some direct shots at Adobe’s competing Flash technology. “In the August 2008 edition of Web Designer Magazine (a Dutch publication) a [Dutch television network] representative reported that they were able to serve 100,000 concurrent users using Silverlight and 40 Windows Media Servers, whereas it would have required 270 servers if they had used Flash Media Servers,” he wrote. Guthrie also specifically noted that Flash is being replaced by Silverlight in Blockbuster’s MovieLink application.

One of reasons Microsoft is in a position to be able to take on Adobe’s Flash, which has an 11 year head start and nearly ubiquitous deployment, is the strength the company has in the enterprise. Microsoft has been able to lean on its corporate partners to score some high profile deployments of Silverlight very quickly, including at NBC, Netflix, AOL, Toyota, and Akamai. There aren’t many companies that could do that and push out a new plugin so quickly. (Google comes to mind as another who has the muscle to get it done — and Steve Gillmor recently suggested that they may actually be headed into the fray as well.)

Source (sitepoint.com)

Maybe now we can start selling silverlight apps / motion graphics, if the take up in the plugin in is much higher.

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	My Social Experiment (Part 1) Posted 11/17/2008 by Declan, Acct Mgr

I like social experiments, and I think this will be fun (famous last words), every day I have potential entrepreneurs calling me about their web based ideas and to be honest some of them are cool, and to be even more honest some are absolutely dreadful. But the main point is -- I am talking to different people every day that have set up companies, so I feel in order to be a better account manager and to offer better knowledge and expertise I need to set up my own company, and experience the process first hand.

So my plan is to find out what I need to set up a company, and then research the main topics, so I can get the ball rolling for my experiment. I plan to research at least one topic per week, and provide my feedback here on ranting and raving. I will also be calling on experts that I have helped along the way and asking them for their advice, I guess Geoff Wilson will be my first stop.

Below is a list of items that should get me started (this list is not complete in anyway; please reply to this post with any suggestions because I am sure I have missed many important points).

· Choosing a Structure (example: Limited Liability Company (LLC)

· What type of business will I run
    o What’s my business idea
            -Home-based 
            -Brick-and-mortar 
            -e-Commerce 
    o How does my idea address a need?
    o What’s so different about what I plan offer?

· Start up money
    o What do I pay myself
    o Accounting and Cash flow
    o Business Insurance

· Legal Issues
    o Can I own an American business, if I am not American?

· Naming my Business
    o Trade marking the name
    o URL

· Building a website
    o Logo design
    o Corporate identity
    o Site Design    
    o Website Functionality
    o What is the primary purpose of the site? 
    o Do I want to sell products (e-commerce)? 
    o Hosting
    o How often will the site need to updated, do I want to be able to update the site myself or pay someone else to update it?
    o Who will develop the content for the site?

· Managing my Business 
    o How will customers buy from me, and how much will they pay? 
    o filing my business taxes, 
    o Forecasting for future growth. 
    o Will I need staff

· Office space
    o Rent Space
    o Work out of the spare bedroom

· Communication Tools
    o Phone
    o Fax    
    o Email
    o Computers

· Marketing My business
    o Promotion and advertising 
    o How will I measure success    
    o What are my key milestones

· Getting clients
    o Keeping client
    o Dealing with client issues
    o Customer service

· exit strategy

 Look out for my research next week.

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	What's New @ 352 for November '08 Posted 11/17/2008 by PeterV, VP, Marketing