Fresh Inc.

August 8, 2007

Hearst Acquires Social Shopping Site

Posted by Ryan McCarthy at 3:27 PM

In February, we wrote about an emerging e-commerce trend known as "social shopping." This week, Kaboodle, one of the sites we discussed, was acquired by the Hearst Corporation, a media titan that owns magazines like Cosmopolitan and Esquire and has over 20,000 employees worldwide. Though no details of the deal were released and Kaboodle does not disclose revenue figures, it has been estimated to be in the $30 - $40 million range.

Launched in February of 2006, Kaboodle was one of the first forays into the social shopping realm. Marketing gurus have long sought to access "mavens" and "connectors," those rare consumers who can truly act as brand evangelists. Social shopping is all about taking this vaunted power of word of mouth and moving it to the web. Sites like Kaboodle, ThisNext and Stylehive let users assemble lists of their favorite products and share them with others online. Betting that consumers are far more likely to buy a product that's been recommended by someone they trust, these sites each employ their own proprietary method of ranking the most influential recommenders and highlighting the latest cool products. After all, we all have those in-the-know friends we go to for music or book recommendations, right?

The entrepreneurs we talked to had gotten some pretty impressive benefits from the social shopping trend. Many online retailers we spoke to found that a single recommendation on a social shopping site was more powerful than even some of the most trusted forms of traditional advertising. And social shopping doesn't seem to just be a trend. Kaboodle's traffic grew precipitously, to more than 2 million unique visitors per month. Hearst will likely use Kaboodle to add product recommendation functionality to magazine sites. It's not hard to imagine Cosmo or Esquire readers compulsively sharing their favorite fashion products.

What do you think of social shopping? Do you think your customers would like a venue to share their favorite product recommendations online? Did Hearst overpay for a site in which people are doing little more than recommending products to each other? How crucial is a recommendation to the success of your business?

April 18, 2007

PR Do's and Don'ts

Posted by Mike Hofman at 9:16 AM

One of my favorite articles in the April issue of the magazine is written in the form of a letter from Geri Denterlein, the head of public relations firm Denterlein Worldwide in Boston, to her past, present, and future clients. I'm not entirely sure how the idea came about, except that Diana Pisciotta, the firm's managing director, and I are old friends. But our basic premise from the start was that an expectations gap often exists between PR firms (even good ones) and their clients, and that the gap could be bridged if it were addressed early in the life of a PR firm's client engagement.

So Inc. asked Denterlein to write down her thoughts about what clients should and should not expect, and how companies send the right and wrong signals to their communications consultants. One of the first things she said was that it drove her nuts during a new business meeting when a prospective client interrupted her to ask, "Cut to the chase—can you get us on the front page of The Wall Street Journal?"

"The short answer may be yes," Denterlein writes. "[W]e can work to get you mentioned in a major newspaper, although the front page is a long shot unless you are truly unique. But you must understand that those pitches take a lot of time and are never a sure thing. PR is not advertising. Even if your publicist has top-notch newsroom contacts and is armed with a defined, disciplined message, it's impossible to control the news. This fact, of course, is exactly what makes a mention of your company on the local 6 o'clock broadcast so valuable."

And what constitutes "truly unique"? Denterlein says that many companies are afraid to show vulnerability or to reveal conflcit inside a business. While that is certainly an understandable impulse, it leaves her PR specialists less to work with. "When it comes to making news," she explains, "you have to recognize that one of the key elements of a compelling article is conflict. Businesses that are willing to acknowledge adversity can reap enormous PR rewards. Being covered in the media--even if the portrayal isn't exactly perfect in your mind--always confers more credibility on your business than even the most clever ad." She goes on to tell the story of a hospital client that shrewdly decided to let a reporter follow a crisis as it unfolded inside the organization. The hospital was commended by the paper for its commitment to transparency.

Finally, I suspect Denterlein speaks for many PR people when she says, "Don't bog us down with so many little tasks--such as endlessly editing press releases--that we never get a chance to do any real strategic brainstorming with you."

To read the full article, click here.

What do you think? If you are in PR, do you agree with Denterlein's observations? And what advice would you give clients in terms of how they can better manage you?

On the other hand, if you are a consumer of PR services, what complaints do you have about how they handle your business? What advice would you give your PR firm on how to be more effective?

November 27, 2006

So Much for Cyber Monday

Posted by Carole Matthews at 1:46 PM

Is it the biggest online shopping day of the year? The famed Cyber Monday, the Monday after the long Thanksgiving weekend, it turns out, isn't that hot for online business.

A recent survey conducted by Ipsos Insight for MasterCard revealed only 10% of those surveyed said they'd be shopping today. Last year, the busiest online shopping day was December 5, according to MasterCard's worldwide data. Today's News.com story about the topic also notes that Shop.org found its members had their busiest shopping day of 2005 on December 12.

So if you can't bank on big sales today, what can you do to reap some of those holiday profits? The News.com articles says online retailers are getting a jumpstart with free shipping and promotional Cyber Monday discounts. Offering e-certificates and e-cards boosted sales for many online retailers last year, helping increase last-minute sales and shoppers short on gift ideas.

Regardless of special promotions, you can expect that holiday shoppers will be spending on average $300 online of the $700 they plan to spend this holiday season, according to the MasterCard report. How is your business planning to attract more of those online dollars this season?

November 8, 2006

Doing Business at ad:tech

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 6:56 PM

I have spent the past three days at the ad:tech conference here in New York, engulfed in a world of online marketing. Looking back, what strikes me most is the huge number of people. According to the event's organizers there were 12,000 people in attendance. Even more massive was the hundreds of booths across three floors.

There were a few big names there like Google and Ask.com; DoubleClick and Omniture as well. There were also companies I have never heard of with interesting ideas: advertising auction company SpotXchange or local business search engine Local.com. And there are stranger companies finding their own niche like NeuroFocus that analyzes how advertising affects people's brains, or InPerson that green-screens an infomercial-esque host over your site to help guide users. Many of the companies at ad:tech were startups and small businesses, trying to get their product or service out there and get new clients to help them grow.

The keynote today, by DoubleClick founder Kevin Ryan, talked about how much the internet had changed in the last ten years. One thing he focused on is how inexpensive bandwith, hardward, and software had gotten, "It really makes launching any site so much cheaper." He believes the market is big enough for many niches sites to thrive, "It allows you to do a ping-pong site which before wasn't feasible." Compared to a decade ago the internet has become more of a haven for startups and small businesses.

Whether from the keynotes or the multitude of panels, attendees learned strategies, recognized trends, or found new methods of marketing. And with such a smorgasbord of booths, I can't imagine any entrepreneur couldn't find a new partner or vendor if they really looked. And while some of the panels could've been more focused or more detailed, most at least opened your eyes to the bigger picture.

Whether you were an entrepreneur attending the event or a small business who had a booth, there was definitely something to be gained--if only an appreciation of what the internet can do for business.

November 6, 2006

Five Minutes of Fame

Posted by Carole Matthews at 10:08 AM

Who knew a junk-mail shredder could play a supporting role on a sitcom, but according to a story in this weekend's Boston Globe, Staple's MailMate will be doing just that. On Nov. 16, the company's $69.99 shredder will get its 30 minutes (minus several commercials) of fame on "The Office" in what Staple's VP Todd Peters called "no mere product placement."

For any small business looking to raise awareness for its product, this would be a coup for its marketing department. Whether featured prominently as part of an episode's plot or even placed innocuously in a scene, the exposure can do wonders for a business's brand--often for very little cost.

Take PoshTots, as an example. Andrea Edmunds, the president of the Richmond, Va., manufacturer of upscale nursery furniture, received 15 minutes of fame on a "Friends" episode. Its brand boost went well beyond the fleeting glimpse of its nursery furniture--the company created a major marketing campaign around the image of David Schwimmer standing besides one of its wall hangings. PoshTots cost: shipping charges for the crib and other items from Virginia to Los Angeles.

Product placement isn't just for Hollywood, either. Max Chafkin notes in "School Ties" that college housing is becoming a popular location for product placement. As college students are thought to be early adopters and brand conscious, it seems like an ideal spot for influencing future purchasing habits.

Whether it's Hollywood, college housing or even a company's break room, there are plenty of opportunities to feature your product outside of commercials and advertising. What strategies are you using? Have you ever had your product featured on a TV show? And what were the rewards?

September 6, 2006

Tips on Effective Incentives

Posted by Mike Hofman at 11:26 AM

The summer issue of SalesForceXP magazine has a series of items on how to create a salesforce incentive program that works. A three-item check list of do's and don'ts for people creating incentive programs caught my eye. The tips are:

1. "Some people like Yanni" by which the author means that different workers will value different prizes more highly. An incentive program that serves up a choice of rewards will probably be more effective than a program that offers everyone the same trip to Miami.

2. Travel works. Offering people an experience, the magazine says, is often better than a physical product. On top of that, the magazine recommends that you arrange for a star worker to have a unique experience while traveling—so you're on the hook for the trip to Maui PLUS the helicopter flight over the volcanos. I actually believe this. For years, a friend of mine ran a company that sold safari packages as an incentive program to a large corporation. He said that the company told him that some workers would actually turn down other job offers or delay retirement by a year simply because they thought they would qualify for the free safari.

3. "Don't drag it out." This is, in my opinion, the best tip. Basically, the idea is that workers lose interest in incentive programs if they yawn out over the course of six months or a year. Rolling three-month incentive programs are more effective in our short-attention span era than one long-term program, the magazine says.

Here's the link to the checklist.

What do you think? Does your company offer an incentive program? If so, what have you found has been the key to an incentive's success?

August 30, 2006

Five Reasons Why You Should Blog for Your Business

Posted by Janine Popick at 4:47 PM

My company VerticalResponse is in the business of enabling small businesses to create and deliver email newsletters, quickly and affordably. Bottom line? We are an email marketing company. So people I know were shocked when I went to the Business Blogging Summit last year in San Francisco, and boy did I get religion. In my mind, blogging was for people to basically publish a personal diary, not for business.

Wow was I wrong. Business blogging is exploding. After this conference I set out to do a test. Without disrupting anyone in the company, my "pet project" was to launch a blog and make it successful. I talked to a few friends who have been blogging for years. They've been crazy about it as am I now. I got some great pointers.

I set up my Typepad account and off I went. It's about $12/month and no engineering needed. Perfect.

What did I learn? A lot. Here are some reasons why I've found that blogging for business not only works, but is necessary.

1. The Voice of the Business - Do you really know what the leader of the company you do business with is thinking? What they go through? What is important to them? What type of person they are? Do you usually have the ability to tap into their expertise? What's going on in the company? More often than not you never get this type of insight. And hey, some CEO's don't want to put themselves out there for people to publicly chat with. I get it – It's a lot of work. But if you want your voice to be that of the company, there's no better way than a blog.

2. Comment Consolidation - What a time-saver. If one of your readers has a question, chances are others have it too. What better way to answer it than in one place where everyone can see and hopefully benefit.

3. Customer Interaction - Not only do I love to interact with our own users but when they comment and others start to comment on the comment, it's the best thing for everyone. This is exactly what any blogger would want. I don't have all the answers, so I try to encourage customer experts to comment and pitch in on ideas. What might work great in one industry, might actually do well in others.

4. Traffic Driver - We get about 160+ visitors to the blog a day. When when we combine it with our email marketing newsletter we get thousands. It also drives traffic from the search engines as another source, and gets picked up by other blogs that find the posts interesting.

5. RSS Feeds - Some people like to get their information with RSS feeds. It's easy with a blog, they'll sign up for your feed and get it realtime right in their reader.

That's the experience we've had here with blogs and it's only getting better. It's just one of the many ways we communicate to our customers and thanks to those loyal customers, we've made it to the 2006 Inc. 500 List.

Got any reasons why businesses should blog? Love to hear them!

Janine Popick is CEO of VerticalResponse, an Inc. 500 company.

7 Comments

August 1, 2006

Lemonade Lessons

Posted by Carole Matthews at 9:35 AM

What can you learn from running a lemonade stand? Quite a lot. At least that's what we've discovered since the launch of our Best Lemonade Stand in America Contest earlier this summer.

The entries we received showcased some very entrepreneurial kids, from Danielle and her Tiki bar lemonade stand, which she sets up during a busy surfing competition each summer, to Alanna whose sales of fresh-squeezed lemonade are helping her save for college.

So what lessons can an "old" entrepreneur take away from these youngsters? Here are a just a few things our lemonade stand contest kids learned along the way.

Have a "higher purpose" than just making money. Many of our entrants supported local and national causes through their lemonade sales--helping them promote their stands and attract customers. Sophie in Missouri raised money for people without fans and air conditioners during the recent heat wave in St. Louis, while others supported efforts close to their families, as Sienna did with her stand dedicated to her grandmother, a breast cancer survivor.

Pay attention to your appearance. Being eye catching can help make the sale. Ethan in Minnesota wears a suit while selling his lemonade, making passerbys take notice. Devin, Michael and Josh in Ohio created a stand with giant lemons reaching eight feet high to attract customers.

Teamwork can help make you a success. Any entrepreneur knows that enlisting the help of others often is the only way to reach your goals. Simon in California enlisted the help of a family friend who is an architect to help make his Hawaiian-themed lemonade stand stand out from the crowd. And Hunter in Austin had the help of three generations of his family to make his stand a success--helping him sell out in the first hour and 20 minutes that he was opened for business.

Capitalize on the opportunity. While selling lemonade was our entrants' main initiative, many sold other products to bring in extra cash. Elisa in Iowa not only supported a great cause but she complemented her efforts by selling a book of her own poetry, which by the end of four hours helped her bring in $105 for her cause.

There are more lessons to be learned from the kid-trepreneurs who entered our contest. Check them out on our recent entries page, or search them by name, state and age on our search entries page. Whichever entry you find, you're sure to be inspired by these kids' resourcefulness and their generosity.

July 5, 2006

Need Some Online Marketing Know-How?

Posted by Carole Matthews at 12:20 PM

Marketing Sherpa just posted its list of the best blogs and podcasts of 2006 on its site. Readers submitted their top picks and came up with a slew of helpful resources.

Here are just a few that were noted:

B2B Marketing
B2B Lead Generation with Brian Carroll

Marketing to a Specific Consumer Demographic
Andy Wibbles, The Original Blogging Evangelist

Small Business Marketing
Duct Tape Marketing with John Jantsch
(John Jantsch recently contributed to an Inc.com article on the topic of low-cost marketing strategies.)

As an editor on a business website, I'm always interested to see what businesspeople are reading. But just as important, the recommendations from people in the trenches helps fill my bookmarks with inspirational and informative resources. Have you come across any outstanding marketing advice on the Web lately?

Continue reading "When to Walk Away"

March 24, 2006

When to Walk Away

Posted by Keith Ferrazzi at 9:20 AM

Last month at TED2006 I had dinner with a leader of a major technology company, and we discussed the Big Task Summit my firm is hosting in April. On behalf of our clients Kaiser Permanente, Safeway, and Dupont, we’re inviting leaders from 30 other companies to share in some significant research focused on reducing corporate healthcare costs and increasing employee wellness funded by these companies. This executive suggested I invite one of her co-founders, saying, "He really does care about these issues."

February 8, 2006

Parking Lot Promotions

Posted by Carole Matthews at 5:05 PM

On AdFreak.com, Tim Nudd draws attention to a new marketing method: advertisements on parking stripes. You know, the stripes in parking lots that you so carefully try to put your car between. The company, Parking Stripe Advertising, aims to place its long, skinny advertisements over those plain white lines in lots across the country. The company says the promotions are durable and reflective, erasing any worries that ads would impede drivers' ability to park their cars.

Advertisements being placed at our feet, or under our feet, are nothing new. Floorgraphics has been placing ads on floors successfully since the late 90s. But how much of a marketing message can you fit onto a parking stripe? Well-known brands might do well with this type of advertising: Their logos are recognizable, and often their messages are already ingrained in our psyches via other methods -- commercials, magazine ads, etc. But how would parking lot advertising work for smaller companies with less brand clout? Is it something you'd allocate part of your marketing budget to?

4 Comments

January 25, 2006

Don't Just Compete, Cooperate

Posted by Carole Matthews at 11:04 AM

Don't just focus on your competitors. Starting thinking about your "cooperators," encourages Colin Bates, the co-founder of BuildingBrands in his e-newsletter this morning.

Bates rattles off three key areas a company can "cooperate:"
1. Product design
2. Product placement and usage
3. Helping build an industry.

While he gives some big brand examples -- Levis introducing a pair of jeans this fall that will house iPods, United Airlines serving Starbucks coffee, and the Woolmark brand promoting the wool industry -- smaller businesses can easily adapt these strategies on a scale that fits their needs and budgets.

For example, the newsletter immediately reminded me of a short piece on Hedrick Co., and its strategy for selling its services via a cross-promotional newsletter it created with seven other business-to-business service providers. It also reminded me of Rand Smith and Maine Roasters Coffee in Portland, Me. When Starbucks came to town, he launched a buy-local effort that not only helped promote his brand against the coffee giant, but also helped fuel a "buy Maine" movement, which raised awareness of Maine-produced goods.

Whatever the tactic, cooperating with other businesses can serve as a low-cost, effective way to help build brand awareness. Which business could you tap to help you in your marketing efforts?

January 11, 2006

Great Sales, Poor Service

Posted by Carole Matthews at 2:57 PM

By most accounts online holiday sales were great, but a couple of recent surveys report that customer service online could have been better. A recent Small Business Computing article noted the findings of two surveys, the e-tail group's eighth Annual Mystery Shopping Study and ForSee's Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index, which revealed some pretty unsatisfying customer service.

The e-tailing group noted a drop in personalization and shipment tracking since 2004. It also found that, based on its criteria, some of which included offering a toll-free number, keyword search, and answering e-mail questions within 25 hours, that the 100 sites it mystery shopped offered slightly worse service than they did last year. ForSee discovered that even though revenue was up, customer satisfaction dropped 4% from spring 2005 to the 2005 holiday season.

The holidays are a huge opportunity for online retailers to convert one-time gift buyers into loyal customers, but poor customer satisfaction is sure to drive them away -- and make sure they don't come back. Features such as easy-to-find contact information and 800 numbers, simple check out, and keyword search can simplify a customer's experience. On the more sophisticated end, businesses can offer live chat software to ensure customers are taken care. Whatever the strategy, the old adage still goes: The customer is king. And retailers need to remember to treat him like royalty.

December 28, 2005

Secrets to Every Service Business

Posted by Carole Matthews at 11:57 AM

Seth Godin reminds readers of the two most obvious secrets to service businesses in his Dec. 28, 2005, blog:

* Take responsibility
* Pay attention to detail

When I read his blog, it reminded me of some service businesses Inc. has covered in the past, which serve as great examples of companies that have mastered these secrets.

* The Inn at Little Washington goes as far as paying attention to the mood of its guests as they arrive. The staff assigns a rating from 1 to 10 (7 or below indicates unhappiness) to a guest's or party's mood, and then sets out to create an experience that will ensure the guest or party leaves with a mood rating of 9.

* David Neeleman of JetBlue frequently flies his airline to personally talk with customers and gain valuable feedback on its service and accommodations.

* The owner of Aladdin Auto Service Center not only fixes cars, but also fixes spirits by providing a very serene and welcoming waiting area for stressed out owners, complete with a prayer room, books on poetry, religion, even mechanics, and complementary tea.

Paying attention to detail is really a simple way any service business can satisfy its customers and keep them coming back. What is your business's secret to great service?

December 12, 2005

Selling Holiday Cheer

Posted by Carole Matthews at 12:29 PM

From toilet paper with pictures of Santa on it to Ziploc bags with penguin graphics, manufacturers are putting holiday cheer into mundane products at an increasing rate. According to a New York Times article today, the holiday product category continued to expand this year. Products like tissues and paper towels with festive scenes, and pumpkin-spice flavored coffee creamer seem to be inexpensive ways consumers can adorn their homes with symbols of the season, according to the article. The added holiday touch also gains manufacturers extra promotional opportunity by being featured as "seasonal items" in stores.

Looks like throwing a little holiday cheer into just about any type of product could help raise its profile with consumers on that holiday high.

December 7, 2005

Selling To Small Business

Posted by Angus Loten at 6:34 PM

When it comes to selling products and services to small businesses, offline relationships still rule.

A full 83% of 481 service and product vendors polled in a recent online survey said they found most of their small business customers through referrals, according to Small Business Trends, a blog that tracks the small business market.

About half also attended networking events and over 60% sold directly to their customers, rather than through distributors or resellers, the survey found. By contrast, just 73% found customers through online search engines and websites, and less than half from cold calling, direct mail, or trade shows.

The majority of vendors who responded to the survey were themselves small business owners with fewer than 20 employees. Just over half sold services, as opposed to products or products coupled with services, and pursued big-ticket sales of $2,500 and up.

Anita Campbell, who writes the blog and conducted the survey last month, said the results showed it pays to develop strong inter-business relationships with small business owners and staff.

The Shopper's High

Posted by Carole Matthews at 11:34 AM

An ABC News story this morning notes that for some shoppers discovering new things on store shelves taps into the brain's pleasure centers. The shoppers receive a little shot of the pleasurable brain chemical dopamine when they "go in pursuit of something new and exciting" according to the story. Once the item is found, the thrill of "the perfect kill" takes over.

The story offers advice to shoppers on how to keep holiday shopping under control, but if you're a retailer, it could influence how you display and present new items. If new items have this affect on shoppers, then making them front and center could help retailers capitalize on these happy holiday hunters.

December 1, 2005

Going Local

Posted by Adam Hanft at 2:21 PM

Small business owners may not pay much attention to developments in search technology, but a new white paper titled "An Overlooked Marketing Channel for Small Business Advertisers" by Joe Laratro of MoreVisibility.com shows why that's a huge oversight. Local Search offers a highly targeted and low-cost way to aggregate customers. Using increasingly sophisticated local search on MSN and Google, small businesses can deliver a point on a map, a website address and a phone number to potential customers. As the Web broadens it narrows at the same time.

Continue reading "It's All About the Service"

It's All About the Service

Posted by Carole Matthews at 9:41 AM

Last weekend I came across a short story on Toys 'R' Us and how it's staging a comeback to win back market share from Wal-Mart. Interim CEO Richard Markee noted the company's commitment to "test early" and "find the best toys" along with a broader assortment as long-term strategies that will no doubt play a part in keeping an edge over Wal-Mart.

While a broad assortment of toys is great, especially for busy parents trying to do all of their Christmas shopping in one day, the real key to Toys 'R' Us's success, at least the way I see it, is its customer service. The staff is approachable and there seems to be dozens of employees on the store floor just looking for customers with questions. On a recent trip to the chain, I never had to go more than 10 feet to get an answer on a price (everyone seems to carry price checkers) or the age appropriateness of a toy (the box says one thing, but really, my 4 year old can handle small Legos) or even help making a decision (do you think my 18-month-old daughter would enjoy the Dora kitchen or the Walt Disney character kitchen more?). No matter how inane the question, the staff was polite and helpful, often leading me to the toy I was looking for or pointing out other options.

August 12, 2005

The New Thing: One-Second Ads

Posted by Kasey Wehrum at 9:58 AM

Apart from the Super Bowl, that magical day on every advertiser's calendar when people actually look forward to watching commercials, Madison Avenue is usually facing a losing battle in the war for consumers' attention. Blame it on our collective attention deficit disorder or gadgets such as TiVo, but the only time most people will sit through a 30-second commercial is when the batteries on the remote control go dead. The message to advertisers trying to get their pitch across: Make it short and sweet.

So they're going shorter -- really short. Cadillac revved up visits to its website 458% by hosting a five-second film contest; a nice tie-in to its five-second commercials for the new V-Series. A Belgian breath freshener created a buzz in advertising circles when it barraged Belgian TV with 500 one-second commercials over the course of one day.

Of course, the fact that people are talking about these ads is probably due more to their novelty than to their actual effectiveness in swaying customers. However, perhaps advertisers should think twice about those long-winded commercials that are heavy on cinematic effects but light on getting the brand across. Is it worth spending 28 seconds of a 30 second commercial on sweeping camera angles and character development when most viewers are going to change channels before they get to the actual payoff?

A one-second commercial may be a little extreme, but it is a good sign that advertisers are beginning to accept this new reality where, for good or ill, a few seconds is all we can spare right now.

3 Comments

April 18, 2005

Befriending the "Competition"

Posted by Keith Ferrazzi at 4:21 PM

Since I've had some extra time on my hands, I finally got around to reading Alison Stein Wellner's piece in Inc.'s March issue: "Let's Be Friends: It seems nuts. But new research says that CEOs who become pals with their rivals do better than those who don't."

I'm so glad to see that the research is showing what many of us know to be true in practice -- that we all succeed better together. No reason that can't apply to entrepreneurs, CEOs, even competitors! In the past, I always got to know my competition when I was in key posts. Deloitte CMO, Starwood CMO... There were multiple reasons for doing so. One, more focus on getting your own stuff right is needed than on beating the other guy in order to succeed. Two, you never know where you or they will end up over the long term. Sure I appreciate a healthy rivalry, but again, that does not mean you cannot be friends around such a rivalry. (In the "Let's Be Friends" article, there's a great line -- "It's better to have your butt whipped by a friend than an enemy. At least that way you're more likely to find out why.") And three, of course, you can actually learn a lot from each other as well.

Now, as founder of a sales & marketing consulting firm and a training/speaking business, I think about competition in two ways. I don't have any competition. By the same token, everyone is my competition. The point is that any company can choose to go it alone without outside support relative to sales and marketing, or they could decide to use one of the big guys or another specialist group like ourselves. What I worry about is not if my "competition" is going to be a success, but if my business is shaping up as I would like. Our growth rate has been extraordinary so far, and I need to assure that our processes and talent keeps pace.

Let's look at each line of FerrazziGreenlight business. First, on the consulting side, I reach out to CEOs of other consulting firms that I aspire to be like to get guidance all the time. I hope to meet the leaders of Monitor Consulting, as I hope someday to have as large and thriving a practice as they have built. I am meeting with Michael Porter -- this week actually -- because I greatly admire him and want to know how he founded that firm.

I meet with other training and development houses and even refer business to them when we are at capacity. In the meantime, I learn so much and never feel that shadow of paranoia. I am paranoid, but not paranoid that someone else will be successful, too -- just paranoid that I might miss something that will allow me to grow our business into the thriving institution that I want it to be over the years. I speak to folks like Tim Sanders. We recently traded tips on launching books because he just released his latest, The Likeablity Factor. I talk with Michael Hammer and Jason Jennings and the list goes on and on. Even others who have written networking books, like Diane Darling, or those who are writing networking books, like Jeff Meshel. I am even editing his manuscript. How much more friendly can you get?

October 6, 2004

What Would You Do If...

Posted by Bobbie Gossage at 5:01 PM

As you might have guessed, the poor residents, companies, and state government of Florida are trying to rebuild the state after the chain of hurricanes that hit this summer. So far, three of the four major theme parks have been reopened, and the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection is practically begging the tourists to return. What would you do to attract tourists back to Florida if you were in charge?

4 Comments

September 21, 2004

Confessions of a Networking Luddite

Posted by Keith Ferrazzi at 3:13 PM

Back in 1994, I was the guy at Deloitte who asked his assistant to print all e-mails and fax them to him. By no means am I claiming to be an early adopter of all technologies. The iPod, I could handle, and now I have one strapped to my shoulder all the time. I do admit to requiring the smallest digital camera. My Blackberry and phone are key tools, but when it comes to cool software for "networking" use, I've never been too keen to jump in. I've always believed that the key to success is developing real relationships with real people, not neat technology. And, until recently, I was dubious of the idea that you could develop real relationships through online social networking tools.

Then I realized that just as I've grown to love speed dialing, cell phones, and e-mail because they can help me connect with other people more efficiently, maybe I could give these social networking sites a trial as a productivity tool, not a networking auto-pilot. So I held back my doubts and, so far, have reached out to Spoke and LinkedIn. Here are some first impressions.

Spoke seems intuitively interesting to me, mostly because of the frustration I've had so often doing sales within big companies (or reengineering sales force processes as a consultant) in the past. Personally at Deloitte, I'd identify someone I wanted to meet for a potential consulting project, let's say, Michael Eisner. My team and I would think of the quickest path to meeting him and do a bunch of calls to friends and friends of friends and conduct strategy sessions on what the quickest path was to penetrate the account through a warm lead from someone Eisner trusts. Then, after we'd done our work and announced the win to my partners at Deloitte, out of the woodwork would crawl some senior manager in the Dallas utility practice who's not only familiar with key decision makers at Disney, but is the godson of Uncle Mikey. This is so unfortunate for companies - they don't know what rich human relationships they have buried within the company. Well, Spoke helps solve that problem. It allows you to find within a closed business system what you don't know. Through some fairly sophisticated technology, it can tell you the most efficient path within Deloitte from person A to whoever the target may be. No more blind relationships for an organization again. Now that's cool.

I also reached out to the CEO of LinkedIn to figure out how their service worked. So far, I'm impressed and excited by the opportunities LinkedIn presents also. One of the coolest things about the service is how easy it is to reconnect with past colleagues. There is a function where you input your past employers. So I typed in Deloitte Consulting and WOW. It's been years and years since I have seen one particular HBS classmate of mine who's now (I just discovered) a partner at Deloitte. I totally lost touch with him, but now I can't wait to see him this Friday night for dinner. Even past employees of mine have been rediscovered. I've also begun to get "invitations" to join friends networks and the opportunities have begun to unfold. The point is, I'm actually looking forward to logging into the system. And, I'm told that there is a fairly compelling group proposition as well, and as a member of Yale's board of alumni governors, I'm certainly interested in helping other Yalies stay connected. The "Old Blue" network can never be too strong from my perspective.

So there you have it, folks. This technology seems to be a great enabler, even for a neophyte like me. What software or technologies have you found that might enhance our networking success and your business/sales? How about contact management? Anyone find a great pipeline management tool that I can use on a handheld device like my Blackberry or Palm?

6 Comments

September 8, 2004

Denial on Steroids

Posted by Adam Hanft at 10:39 AM

So it turns out that President Clinton wasn't asymptomatic at all. He had chest pains and shortness of breath that he wrote off to other factors, including the all-purpose "acid reflux." (I wonder how the marketing of acid reflux has given those with heart disease a convenient excuse, thus dangerously delaying diagnosis?)

It seems to me that now is a particularly challenging time to be asking consumers to focus on their own mortality. Living with the fear of terrorism -- both for oneself and one's loved ones -- requires a carapace of daily denial. When reality is too "real" we want to shut as much of it out as possible, including reminders of illness. We are in an environment, simply put, of bad-news overload.

So for a diabetic to check his blood pressure multiple times during the day is the physiological equivalent of checking the national terror alert with a high level of frequency.

In fact, post 9/11 we have become psychologically accustomed to living in a state of denial. To break through, drug and device manufacturers must recognize this reality and avoid advertising that defaults to the scare and fright tactics. If you want your customers -- Bill Clinton or your grandmother -- to take care of themselves, to check their cholsterol and their glucose, you need to make the world a less-threatening place, not a more frightening one.

September 1, 2004

What Would You Do If...

Posted by Bobbie Gossage at 6:01 PM

Passions run high when it comes to politics, and this year's presidential race stands to be especially heated. However, as the New York Times reports today in its story, "Advertisers Join the '04 Campaign," despite the risk of appearing to embrace a particular candidate, more companies are playing up the election theme in their campaigns. They are also launching these campaigns even earlier than in previous elections. And while, according to the article, Americans are more interested in this election than they have been in a while, perhaps saturating the public with both campaign ads and advertising relating to the election and campaigns could wear on nerves of consumers by the time the election actually rolls around. On the other hand, in the midst of so many serious issues, the public might welcome a little light-hearted poking at the race. What would you do if you were running an ad campaign now? Would you try a political ad?

3 Comments

August 19, 2004

Another Look at Healthcare Marketing

Posted by Adam Hanft at 1:28 PM

Not long ago, I did a Public Radio commentary that predicted a new era of pricing transparency. The thought is that when we buy, say, a Nike sweatshirt, the price tag will tell us how much Nike pays its workers in Malaysia who produced it. (Think of it as a next-generation ingredient label.)

Behind this concept is the reality that consumers not only want, but are demanding: the whole "product biography" and judging companies by their corporate behavior, domestically and globally. This is driven by new levels of skepticism and distrust, by the transparency we are used to getting from the Internet, and from the psychographics of both baby boomer and Gen X consumers.

One area that could particularly benefit from this approach is the health insurance industry. Health care will no doubt be an election issue this fall, once again, and when that happens the industry gets vilified. The reason we have millions of uninsured, the rhetoric goes, is because health insurance companies charge exorbitant premiums that keep poor families out.

The industry could address this by employing this very notion of pricing transparency. How much of its premium income gets passed through to its members and their doctors and hospitals, versus how much is overhead and profit? Imagine how much better consumers would feel if they understood that HMOs exist to collect premiums from everyone in order to redistribute the money to those who need it. Essentially, it's a major re-education campaign.

This is a model that the non-profit world has adopted, as scandals such as the United Way mess focused attention on what percent of a contribution finds its way to those who need it. Indeed, these metrics have become part of their messaging strategy.

As an example, on their very own website United Way writes "A vast network of volunteers and the simplicity of corporate payroll deduction keep administrative expenses low - averaging 13 percent of all funds raised at the largest United Ways. This figure compares favorably with the suggested Better Business Bureau guidelines of up to 35 percent."

In many ways, consumers view health insurance companies as having non-profit attributes and qualities, since their mission is so critical to public health. As a result, they place high demands on these companies. Which means that adopting the approach which non-profits have taken would go a long way towards shifting public opinion in a more positive direction, and offsetting the horror stories of stingy providers more interested in hoarding money than paying claims.

8 Comments

April 19, 2004

Reaching the Subconcious Mind of the Consumer

Posted by Carole Matthews at 2:37 PM

HBS professor Gerald Zaltman says that 95% of consumers' purchase decision making takes place in the subconscious mind. If that's true, how can a marketer influence consumer choice? Zaltman explains his theory in a recent Q&A with Manda Mahoney of HBS's Working Knowledge.

One way, contends Zaltman, is to double check "stated beliefs" with "actual behavior." For instance, when a consumer says he or she compares brands and pricing, how does that stack up to his or her trip to the store? In many instances, consumers don't even look at alternatives to the chosen brand. Another approach: study the metaphors consumers use to express their particular thoughts and feelings about a product. This is most effectively done, Zaltman says, through one-on-one interviews with customers, which according many researchers, "are superior to focus groups."

February 12, 2004

Naming Your Business

Posted by Carole Matthews at 10:36 AM

If you want to make a good first impression, then you have to have a good business name, suggests columnist Jeff Wuorio in a bCentral column today, 'Oedipus Wrecks' and other business names to avoid. Put simply, new business owners should resist the temptation to be cute and catchy. Instead, owners should be direct in their purpose, choosing names that can attract customers and easily explain their products or services.

A few pointers from the article on naming your business:

* Don't make up a name. Huge corporations can do this; small companies looking to gain marketshare can't.

* Avoid forced alliteration. And watch out for puns.

* Don't name your business just to get good standing in the Yellow Pages. Think AAA.

* Keep it short.

12 Comments

October 31, 2003

What Retailers Expect This Holiday

Posted by Carole Matthews at 12:20 PM

With a surging economy, and an increase in mortgate refinancing and the Bush tax cuts, both of which put money into consumers' pockets this year, the retail industry is expecting a pretty rosy holiday season. But, according to a What's Hot article on Knowledge@Wharton, the season could be dampened by rising energy costs, impending news of corporate layoffs, news from Iraq, bad weather, and more.

October 28, 2003

Sales Motivation

Posted by Carole Matthews at 10:22 AM

Looking for sales advice 24/7? Check out Sales Talk, a discussion board on justsell.com. Discussions range from prospecting to ethics to sales by industry, and they hold some lively and informative discussions kept up to date by a pretty active group of sales enthusiasts. Folders with new posts in them are highlighted by intuitive icons, but you'll have to dig for the newest posts -- comments are listed in chronological order.

October 12, 2003

Marketing/Pricing Myths

Posted by at 11:51 AM

Marcia Yudkin, an author and marketing consultant, surveyed 335 entrepreneurs about their perceived barriers to increasing their revenues. Responses ranged from "My clients can't afford to pay that much" (29 %) to "No one in my field makes much money" (8 %).

In response, Yudkin crafted a six-page report rebutting "the five most common self-sabatoging beliefs standing in the way of higher earnings." In addition to the two myths listed above, she addresses these self-defeating assumptions:
-- "I wouldn't pay more than I charge now."
-- "What I do is mainly common sense."
-- "I'm just starting out."

While Yudkin's free report is primarily aimed at SOHO businesses and freelancers, entrepreneurs of all levels may find it useful for taking a hard look at attitudes that may be holding them back.

October 9, 2003

Thinking Big

Posted by Carole Matthews at 2:59 PM

When you're small and working on a shoestring, as Carol Skonberg was in 2000 when she launched her wineglass jewelry business, she wasn't thinking "big." She didn't think about sales beyond her home state of Texas, or even consider that her idea would easily be duplicated or ripped off by larger rivals, which eventually put her out of business.

On the other hand, a similar business, That Wine is Mine launched in 1999 became a big success, and its owners eventually sold to a larger company in 2002. The difference between the two businesses was that the owners of That Wine is Mine set up a national sales network, consulted a lawyer about trademark protection of the company's name and logo, and even hired assemblers to keep up with demand, while Skonberg depended on the perceived "uniqueness" of the concept and first-to-market advantage to sustain her business.

The moral: If you want to succeed, you need to think like a big business. Get to market fast, have a great sales strategy, and have a strategy for protecting your brand.

September 25, 2003

Creating Buzz

Posted by Carole Matthews at 4:12 PM

Robert Wheatley, CEO of Wheatley & Timmons, a public relations and marketing communications agency, argues that we need to rewrite the marketing communications rulebook to grab elusive customers, in "Have We Lost the Art of Persuasion? on Brandweek.com. The constant barrage of repetitive marketing messages might increase awareness, he contends, but it rarely persuades customers to buy.

What does persuade customers to buy? Wheatley says getting an authentic message out to "mavens" -- information hungry early adopters -- is the real way to create buzz and garner more customers.

September 9, 2003

Pampered Pets

Posted by Carole Matthews at 9:38 AM

Americans own more pets than ever, and seem to care about them more passionately, too, as a recent article from BrandWeek, "It's Reigning Cats and Dogs (and Fish and Reptiles)," suggests. There are more pet than people in the U.S. today, and the money we spend on pet products has begun to outpace what we spend on toys and candy according to a"2003/2003 National Pet Owners Survey" from The American Pet Products Manufacturers Assn. (APPMA).

Everyone is getting in on the "pet spending spree," and the business's wooing pet crazy customers goes way beyond the food and toy industries.

* Hotels are adopting pet-friendly policies.
* Companies known for human products, such as Paul Mitchell, Omaha Steaks, Origins, Harley-Davidson and Old Navy, now offer lines of pet products.
* Products that recognize that pets are one of the family have hit store shelves, including diapers for puppies and edible greeting cards.
* Luxury products like faux furs for pets and rhinestone tiaras, and services like pet massages and liposuction have emerged for the socialite pet.
* And, new technology and innovation are making it easier to own and care for pets, including automatic feeders, self-cleaning trays and motion sickness aids for those pets on the go.

In all, the APPMA expects pet owners to spend approximately $31 billion in 2003 on their pets. It might sound a bit strange, but perhaps there's a way your business can profit from America's love affair with its pets.

August 28, 2003

Net Sales

Posted by Carole Matthews at 4:38 PM

Unless you're selling back-to-school goods, your online sales are probably down, says writer and business owner Beth Cox in "E-commerce and the Dog Days of Summer." With the timely arrival of tax rebates, many apparel sites and other school-related products are seeing a surge in sales.

But what do you do when your products don't "suit the season"? Cox thinks she'll send out 10%-off coupons to existing customers during next year's dog days or target some of her best previous customers with special sales prices the slump.

Do your online sales suffer from seasonal slumps? What do you do to survive your "dog days"?

4 Comments

August 18, 2003

Bad for Business?

Posted by Bobbie Gossage at 4:29 PM

On Thursday, the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy sent a letter to the Federal Communication Commission expressing its view that the "do-not-call" and "do-not-fax" lists would seriously and negatively impact small businesses. It also asked the FCC to grant requests from businesses for stay. But will these policies really do that much damage?

In an article by reporter Matthew Fogel in the July issue of Inc., it was reported that, despite a lawsuit from the Direct Marketing Association against the Federal Trade Commission, the industry seems "largely unfazed." Perhaps these lists may even spawn better business plans: In a column by Robert X. Cringely in the Inc. September issue (on newsstands), he argues that unsolicited intrusions may not be the most efficient way to do business anyway. (I tend to agree. After all, I would never dream of ordering from that Chinese place whose delivery guy once snuck into my office and left a menu on my desk while I was working.) What's your opinion on the "do-not-call" and "do-not-fax" lists?