read this quick

Seth's new eBook on marketing is posted. You should read it and implement it in your business. as usual it's insightful and worth reading

This new ebook (3 versions, 18 pages each, PDF format) explains how I believe some of the new Web 2.0 tools (flickr, de.licio.us, squidoo and others) combine with ideaviruses and the Purple Cow.

Here they are. Free to download

Seth's Blog: Flipping the Funnel--new ebook

fascinating insight into power of blogging: Stormhoek: The Podcast

i've been watching what hugh and the team from stormhoek have been doing, and also hugh and tom at english cut.

i've even been involved in the open source label design too, [my offering is here] because i thought it was an exciting idea and wanted to see what would happen.

well finally here's some talk from the horse's mouth that discusses just how the blog has changed the thinking of the company and how coincedentally the sales have doubled over the same period

i believe that conversations on blogs are going to be part of the fundemental shift for the future of marketing, and for me at least this is vindication of the worth of writing a blog.

read what johnnie has to say in his conversation with stormhoek, and if you're up for it listen to the audio too, it's exciting [for me at least] and then be open to the possibilities of being changed by your market rather than bashing your head against a brick wall trying to change your market

Stormhoek: The Podcast: 11.44 James asks for examples of how Stormhoek listens to the market. Jason talks about how their best wine is their Sauvingnon Blanc... and we found some people like it - and some don't. You forget that what we like as producers isn't necessarily what the consumer likes. We've been astounded by the popularity of our Rose even though we expected other things to do better.

12.53 Jason talks about Stormhoek's competition seeking new design ideas for the packaging. We offered �1000 - and about 150 different people submitted ideas. For us, it wasn't about the individual idea, it was about engagement. People cared enough about we are doing to take the time to do this. We gleaned something from those people that sent us off in a direction we would never otherwise have gone in, and will give us a wine which will look like nothing else on the shelf. A contrast between insular inward-looking design and open source with your customers. You're not designing for yourself but to meet the needs of the market.

see this post for some great insight on Word of Mouth

The whole post is a gem customers, not capital, are a company’s scarcest resource.

but this was so succinct i had to quote it to you

please, read the whole thing

write a plan, follow your plan or plan to fail

The Zen of Business Plans: "Write for all the right reasons. Most people write business plans to attract investors, and while this is necessary to raise money, most venture capitalists have made a “gut level” go/no go decision during the PowerPoint pitch. Receiving (and possibly reading) the business plan is a mechanical step in due diligence. The more relevant and important reason to write is a business plan, whether you are raising money or not, is to force the management team to solidify the objectives (what), strategies (how), and tactics (when, where, who)."

the rest of guy's plan notes are well worth the read too. (i'm amazed that a man who didn't have a blog a month ago is writing such great stuff so consistently)

maybe after reading this sage advise i should write the plan i've been meaning to write for the last ten years. Maybe i should write that plan i've been meaning to write for my life as well as my business, maybe you should too?

this new desire for planning world domination reminds me of ESP, a course i've done that is amazing and has just such a plan for living as it's core first step, as well as some really great business building advice and support, a fabulous network and some life saving ideas on leisure and balance

links to Word of Mouth Basic Training

Word of Mouth Basic Training -- Word of Mouth Marketing Association -- WOMMA

see the right hand pane for lots of links to word of mouth marketing how to's and tips

this is the blog of the word of mouth conference that's happening in Orlando Florida last week

the marketing funnel in the current situation

Seth gives a tutorial for understanding the concept of the marketing funnel

here: "Traditional marketing divides the world into two groups:

prospects

and

customers

Customers are traditionally undervalued, and prospects are all treated the same.

more importantly he goes on to show how things have changed online. i think though, that things have also changed in the traditional markets too, we need to listen more, and be willing to be changed by that; rather than keep chundering away with doing business the way we've always done it and expecting to get something different instead of what we've always got!

it's like Sam Decker says here

Marketing is about listening, facillitating and helping customers buy.

amen to that.

WOM: word of mouth still the best advertising available?

See more on this report here: Brand Autopsy:

In this study, Word-of-Mouth ranked as the most influential marketing medium. The 'Top Ten' most influential marketing mediums, regardless of demographic age group, include:

1 | Word-of-Mouth
2 | TV
3 | Coupons
4 | Newspaper Inserts
5 | Read Article
6 | Direct Mail
7 | Magazines
8 | In-store Promotion
9 | Cable TV
10| Online Advertising

more proof that the best kind of advertising for most businesses is still the conversation

media release of researchers here

branding, more "rules"

guy kawasaki tells us in

The Art of Branding: "Create one message. It's hard enough to create and communicate one branding message; however, many companies try to establish more than one because they are afraid of being niched and want the “entire” market."

he has ten rules and i agree with most of them, whether you be big company or a small one, the rules are the same. and once more it's not all about the logo, your brand is something that goes across all the strata of your company, from customer service to your printed and web materials. work on your brand with your designer, but also your PR team, your marketing manager and customer services. be holistic about your brand.

you don't have long to make a first impression

We've always felt you had a few seconds to make a good impression, but research shows you have even less than that...

Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye.Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds.: "Like the look of our website? Whatever the answer (and hopefully it was yes), the chances are you made your mind up within the first twentieth of a second. A study by researchers in Canada has shown that the snap decisions Internet users make about the quality of a web page have a lasting impact on their opinions."

thanks to seth godin, for rooting this out. in his book the big red fez, he said you had three seconds, now it's even less than that

what's the takeaway for this? you need simple, clear (landing) pages, and i believe you also need clear print materials. single minded focus, clear communication, uncluttered pages whether in print or on the web.

Duh! why didn't i get this idea earlier?

Slate talks about getting a better value coffee at starbucks, but tucked away in the article is this note about doing crappy design [on purpose]
{here's the conspiracy theory article in full}: but here's the bit i found really enlightening

"The difficulty is that if some of your products are cheap, you may lose money from customers who would willingly have paid more. So, businesses try to discourage their more lavish customers from trading down by making their cheap products look or sound unattractive, or, in the case of Starbucks, making the cheap product invisible. The British supermarket Tesco has a 'value' line of products with infamously ugly packaging, not because good designers are unavailable but because the supermarket wants to scare away customers who would willingly spend more. 'The bottom end of any market tends to get distorted,' says McManus. 'The more market power firms have, the less attractive they make the cheaper products.'"

i better keep this in mind for other projects, and so had you...

are you hunting clients, or farming them?

Happy new year, I hope that 2006 brings you everything you wish for

Something I should have been doing for the last year was setting up new clients, and certainly it's what we've been making an effort to do for our own clients in the work we do for them. Once more Seth has boiled down a concept into a beautiful little post here, and this is the punchline from the story about hunting and farming clients

"Everyone got the idea... except for marketers.

Marketers still like to hunt.

What we're discovering, though, is that the good prospects are getting really good at hiding."

Call us if you've got some seeds to plant, we'd love to help

new year, new resolve, new successes

perhaps the only resolution worth keeping? thanks to acleareye.com for highlighting this amongst the good ideas about a new year

Emerson's definition of success:
"To laugh often and love much; to win and hold the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of little children; to earn the approval of honest critics and to endure without flinching the betrayal of false friends.

To appreciate beauty always, whether in earth's creations or men and women's handiwork; to have sought for and found the best in others, and to have given it oneself; to leave the world better than one found it, whether by nurturing a child or a garden patch, writing a cheery letter, or working to redeem some social condition.

To have played with enthusiasm, laughed with exuberance, and sung with exultation; to go down to dust and dreams knowing that the world is a little bit better, and that even a single life breathes easier because we have lived well, that is to have succeeded."