resources
As many of you know, not only do I handle marketing and advertising at B2C Enterprises, I also work as a career firefighter/engineer in Chattanooga, Tennessee. One of the things we do is plan for emergency incidents before they happen, or, in firefighter shorthand, pre-plan.
Immediately I have to decide….Is this a “not sure what to ask you so I’ll just ask the simple how is business question”, or are they genuinely interested in the affairs of the marketing and advertising agency I run?
Most of us are more likely to be uncomfortable. Yet, almost everyone still finds themselves in situations where they have to mingle, network, communicate, or break into a crowd of people. It's not easy, especially if you're not wired for that setting.
Sales blames Marketing and Marketing blames Sales. Either the leads or prospects the sales people are getting from marketing aren't any good, or the leads are great, but those danged sellers can't seem to close any business.
In late 2009, I wrote my first B2Seed. Since then I've written over 60 columns and even in the months (like last month) when I wonder if I'll have anything to share, something strikes me.
They were great trips, but as Mom so rightly pointed out, they came at the very end of the summer. Before the trip there was wiffle ball to play, swimming to dive into, friends to ride bikes with, girls to meet, smaller family trips to take, and movies to watch.
A few years ago, I realized I had started a company without having a full understanding of the best systems to put in place. As the firm grew, things were done in ways that seemed to make the most sense.
For the past few years we've been doing work for Boxley Materials Company. This isn't a piece about one of our clients, rather an interesting study in how business development, building a network of referring partners, and the power of the internet has made our really big world incredibly small.
However, March of every year brings one specific activity that breaks this pattern. They are called "Brackets".
Except it's not - it's really quite simple. Naturally, I like to write - hopefully you can tell that from the energy that goes into delivering some value to you with these monthly pieces.
What is happening in the sports world that applies to those of us in business and industry?
Each of us have discovered that people are fascinating. We simply need to take a little time to get to know them and then listen to what they have to say. That’s a big part of the challenge. As leaders we run from a tasks to meetings to challenges to solutions mindset. Unfortunately, it’s all too rare when we sit and just listen to people.
So often in business a great deal of time is spent focusing on what we’re writing and that’s important. At the same time, it’s important to evaluate the appearance of what is written. Taking a closer look quietly makes a difference in the way copy is presented.
Recently I learned of a fellow business owner who wanted to start doing some advertising. His company had been busy for years, but recently his business had slowed down significantly. The phones weren’t ringing. The orders for work had stopped. Enter the “famine” phase of the feast-famine cycle in commerce.
And just like that, the holidays are already here! As you frantically hang the stockings with care or try to meet those 2022 goals before the new year, it's important to slow down this holiday season both in and out of the office. With these simple tips on how to unplug from work during the holidays, you'll be ready to enjoy the full experience of this season.
The headlines are ever-present. Every day you see a story about how hard it is to find employees. For a while many thought it was the fault of the stimulus checks or people not wanting to work. Some leaders in certain industries, point to the slow downs in immigration and access to those who work in professions which are woefully short-handed.
We read about providing great customer service, but when you’re on the receiving end, man does it feel good.
Over the past five years we’ve built nearly 70 websites. Some have been from scratch, but many are conversions of sites that needed updating, a more modern look and feel, or to better reflect the shifting work our client is now doing.
I remember one in particular where our client insisted over and over that the information on their current (dated) website would simply transfer over to the new design we were doing. No matter how often we asked, we got the same answer. They would not need new copy. When we showed them...
About twenty years ago, in a city far from where my agency is located, I learned a valuable life lesson.
Gathered with me in an old room with dated furniture on a cloudy fall day were 12 people who I’d never met prior to that week. A few days before, we went through a tryout of sorts, and that was also a strange experience. I always wanted to...
Business routines are backwards these days. It used to be I’d build a relationship with someone, then they would become a client. Now, clients decide to trust us to help them and then at some point afterward we begin...
How to be a room shifter.
Where did the curiosity of our youth go?
“We’re actively recruiting for…..”
This is a phrase, or even a buzzword, that c-levelers and human resources management types often toss around without a lot of thought.
Remember the old saying, “curiosity killed the cat”? Well, the lack of curiosity has done-in more than a few businesses and leadership teams. Strong questions make a big impact.
Mister Starr was my 10th grade geometry teacher. I didn’t do so well in his class. I do, however, remember him clearly reminding our class to “check your work”.
We enjoy giving it as a gift to our clients at the holidays. I also love to meet with clients, and prospects, and potential employees as they drink it. While I feel like I should enjoy a cuppa joe, the reality is: “I do not drink coffee!”
About twenty years ago, in a city far from where my agency is located, I learned a valuable life lesson.
Gathered with me in an old room with dated furniture on a cloudy fall day were 12 people who I’d never met prior to that week. A few days before, we went through a tryout of sorts, and that was also a strange experience. I always wanted to...
People want to improve. Well, most people do anyway. They’ll talk the improvement game. They’ll go to conferences. They’ll read those books. Most will target a...
On the first night of November (which did seem weird), the Houston Astros captured their first-ever baseball World Series Championship. Just four years ago they were the laughingstock of the baseball world and had lost over 100 games – a near record for futility.
In the marketing world, we tend to be heavily focused on the next month, quarter, or year.
I will often judge how much we’ll enjoy an act at The Spot based on one natural interaction: I watch how the artist treats our magical, kind, and helpful sound engineer, Travis. If they care for him and treat him well, their performances are almost always extra enjoyable.
B2C Enterprises invests over a million dollars in media most years, while at the same time, interacting with salespeople from at least seven states. That’s a lot of business transactions and a lot of sales appointments.
Use someone else’s informative and entertaining story until you create your own to share. I did this when I was younger and I also did it seven years ago when I started my advertising agency.
They’ve ruined the process for many. Certainly they’ve made a lot of work for those who genuinely do put their prospects' best interests first. Typically when a salesperson walks through the door, the potential client leans to the position of distrust. It may be unfortunate, but it’s generally the case.
You get in and settle into your job and before you know it, the realization hits there are lots of other things that need to get done.
Every market has one of these types. Here in the Roanoke-Lynchburg television market, where our marketing firm is based, we are lucky enough to have two.
I’m talking about car dealers with terrible commercial campaigns.
No, it isn’t limited to just automotive marketing, but these guys are the...
For the past decade, I’ve noticed something that seemed kind of odd to me initially. Over time, I continued seeing this pattern and I figured it was time I identified it.
Some of the smartest people I know own companies, invent products, or find a better way to accomplish a goal. They are brilliant at what they do and have built a product or service based on some sort of genius technological solution. The work they do takes...
Years ago, I wrote about the value of “going where the eyeballs are” when it comes to advertising. It’s an age-old axiom, but as you evaluate your place in the business community, it’s one that deserves a little closer examination. If you have...
Over the years people have asked me how I decide what to write about in our monthly columns. Often it is noticing something basic and then pondering how it fits into marketing or business operations.
I have a teenager, which means I have to deal with the constant cycle of updating, repairing, and replacing of mobile phones. My normally sure-handed young man occasionally drops his...
My friend Bill from Toledo told me a story once and it has stayed with me for more than twenty years.
At the time, he was in broadcast television commercial production and, as a Black man living in America, he had a very different perspective than I did. He recalled being a kid in the early 70’s watching television and seeing...
In real estate there’s an old saying: only three things matter – location, location, location. It’s funny how that same adage has an application in the...
Football teams have evolved their rosters through the years – just like baseball teams did years before. You have short yardage runners, nickel backs, receivers who only play on third downs, and kickers who are especially talented at...
I’ve said it so many times lately – mostly as a sort of a preparation for what is to come for our prospective new clients. The more marketing you do, the more there is...
It’s an observation and it isn’t the case in every circumstance. For more than two decades I managed sales departments in the...
I’m convinced some ads are invisible. Well, they certainly take up space or air, but they get skipped or ignored more than...
Way back in the olden days, the proverbial shot of the storekeeper with a broom at his front step, apron tied around his waist, seemed to be...
.jpeg)
Galaxys, iPhones, Google Pixels, and the sort produce so many great memories. After all, without them, how would...
My Dad calls them “destructions”. You know – the printed papers that come with most electronic items or things that need to be put together. Detailed explanations of...
There’s a new brewery in downtown Roanoke. In fact, there are like six new breweries in our hip, small city. We’re the up-and-coming craft brewing mecca of the east coast with...
For years now, my creative team has been inserting clever images or photographs into...
Budget to increase profit.
Compelling stories sell.
One-size-fits-all—except when it doesn’t.
There are plenty of tools at our disposal at any given time, and we have to know when and how to use them to fix our clients’ problems. You’re running your business and it’s not necessary for you to understand how to apply those five critical tools we use in our business . . . you just have to know who to call.
Through the years, I’ve shared my professional background in television advertising sales. As a salesperson, I kept a close eye on the annual Emmy Awards. The more awards our shows won, the easier it was to sell commercials to advertisers – plus it was more fun to brag when you represented a network affiliate that won a big haul.
If you’ve ever looked at the sales process then you already know that people buy from people they know and trust. If you haven’t thought about it, now is a good time to consider what I call the “headwinds” in the sales process.
We get it. It’s a big commitment. You don’t want to invest all your time just to get hurt again. You want someone who listens and communicates, someone who supports your growth and grows with you, and most importantly, someone you can trust.
What’s Content Marketing? Simply put, Content Marketing is the foundation for an entire marketing and communication strategy. Content Marketing can help your website rank on search engines, position you as a subject matter expert, build your stakeholder list and engagement level, and nurture...
Fear is a powerful motivator.
That’s a commonly shared saying that struck close to me a few springs ago in March of 2020. We rebranded our decade old marketing and advertising firm.
It came up yet again in a recent leadership meeting at the agency.
One of our Directors joked that in advertising – patience is a virtue. It’s just like real life and that long-shared saying applies to the marketing world too.
Anyone with today’s technology can send an email anywhere, at any time. But you’re not just anyone – you’re a hard-working someone who is going on vacation this summer, and your eyes could use a break from your digital mailbox. Before you trade in your laptop for your flip flops, there’s one vital and innovative mechanism you absolutely must remember to activate before you take to the skies: your email’s autoresponder!
So many of our clients are using marketing and advertising to support their sales process. Marketing and sales typically go hand in hand and, in fact, many companies have combined those departments. When we engage our clients in an advertising program, it is often to help them with “direct response” results.
While it seems like it was just yesterday, I remember back in the ‘80s when my workplace was decorated with those motivational posters featuring a beautiful photograph and a strong statement intended to lift the spirits and inspire everyone. I bet you’ve seen those, too.
Your business website is designed with your customer in mind. But have you also considered the possible jobhunters who will navigate your website?
You’re pretty careful not to hand your car keys to just anyone, right? I mean, sure – a valet, the guy at the car wash, your spouse – to those folks you’ll toss ‘em and take your chances. Your teenager? That may be a different question. How about someone you don’t know very well? Not likely.
I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream.” That might have been the first food marketing campaign in the history of America (or not).
One of the best meals I’ve ever had was in D.C. at a tapas restaurant. It was late in the evening and the kitchen was about to close.
It seems the closer we get to something, the more we accept it and just move into a routine. Some routines can be good; they can produce fruit that helps us grow and develop. Others trap us into a false sense of comfort. How do you know the difference?
Most of us are more likely to be uncomfortable. Yet, almost everyone still finds themselves in situations where they have to mingle, network, communicate, or break into a crowd of people. It's not easy, especially if you're not wired for that setting.
In late 2009, I wrote my first B2Seed. Since then I've written over 60 columns and even in the months (like last month) when I wonder if I'll have anything to share, something strikes me.
It's easy to get into a routine. Patterns - good and bad ones both - form before we know it. Before too long they simply become the "way we do things around here". The fastest way to break a routine is to learn new things.
There has been a big snow storm in the east and southeast. A lot of my readers from the Midwest think I am overstating it, but we recently got about two feet of snow here in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia.
The B2Seed is typically reserved for entertaining, edgy and exciting content. This month we're going in a different direction.
Jason Martin decided he'd had enough sluggish Monday nights. His restaurant stays crowded most days - serving great food Monday-Saturday and turning into a hip live music venue later in the evenings.
It’s the time of year for planning and strategizing. In your personal life, you may be figuring how to break bad eating habits or get into better exercise patterns.
.png)