E-Newsletter – why aren’t you doing it? November 22, 2008

I write a monthly e-newsletter that has a loyal following.  I’ve gotten several new clients from my newsletter and often re-interest existing clients.  What makes mine work?

I always make it personal – I talk about whatever is on my mind at that moment and then tie it into my company, Brookhollow Marketing.  It’s that six degrees of separation thing – everything is somehow related!

I always highlight a client – it allows me to showcase my work, and its a free plug for the people that pay my rent.  Highlighting clients is always a good thing in my book

I talk about me and my company – no I’m not shameless, I’m marketing myself and my company.  If I’ve been in the news – I put it in there. My e-newsletter is my advertising, I make it work for me.

I talk about my involvement in the community

I have a marketing tips column.

It works because I’ve made it personal, people can leave with some valuable information, I show my work and I show my connections.  It’s all about making yourself an expert in your field.

Take the time – write an e-newsletter. They are affordable and they work!

Tired of the doom and gloom November 22, 2008

I am tired of the doom and gloom that I am inundated with on an hourly basis – hell every other nano-second.  The reality is when people hear doom – they freeze. Life is over, I’m going to be homeless.  Have you ever noticed that some people, some companies simply thrive when everyone else is struggling. Why is that? They think outside the box -they reinvent themselves – they realize the reality and move beyond it. They do not become the proverbial “deer in headlights”.

I have that attitude. I am busier than I have ever been, and will finish this year on a really high note.  Life is good. Yes,  I thought outside the box and I also worked pretty damn hard.  Oh work – yea, some people forgot that’s how you make it to the top. You have to work hard.  You have to work weekends – note I”m writing this on a Saturday from my office.  You have to work nights, you have to work when your friends are playing.  You have to be patient – something that I’m really not that good at. Hell I’m awful at being patient. Dead rats are more patient than I am…but I’m trying.

Recession – I’m ready!

CD

Wanting is different than doing… January 6, 2009

While at the gym last night I felt like I was in church on Christmas Eve or Easter – all the regulars ( that would be me) were staring at all those people that you know are only there because they feel obligated to do “something” about their health because its the new year.  All of us regulars smiled and knew that in a month we wouldn’t have to wait for the cardio machines any more.

So what’s the difference between me and the soon to be quitters at the gym?  Before you start snarling – of course I’ve quit more than one thing in my life before I accomplished my goal.  But why?

Here is the difference between being an “I want” person and an “I’m doing it” person

The Doers

• Set reasonable goals – both short term and long term
• Monitor progress  – evaluate and adjust
• Understand that setbacks will happen and do, and the key is to get over it – learn from the situation and move on
• Are patient – this is the hardest part of me doing anything
• Stay focused
• Surround themselves with a positive supportive team
• Are flexible – they can move outside their comfort zone
• Are motivated – they really want it, bad enough to put up with all the points above.

When it came to going to the gym – I had one of those “Oh God I could die” moments – I was over weight, 45, high blood pressure and high cholesterol and lead a stressful life.  Something had to change if I wanted to enjoy the best time of my damn life!  I did all those above bullet points – and still adhere to them.  I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been – still have a way to go before I get to my goal, but I’ve learned patience.

Take this gym philosophy and relate it to business.  Successful sales people adhere to these mantras, successful entrepreneurs do as well.

Success in anything requires doing not just wanting.

Want to be a millionaire?  Great – now figure out how to do it, write it down and buckle down for some hard work and a few bumps in the road.  Everything in life worth having requires sacrifices – but if you want it bad enough those bumps in the road are insignificant.

Cheers to doing!

Cindy

Perception IS everything – or is it? December 22, 2008

Humans are simple.  We absorb information into our brain and it is stored there – subconsciously. We are quick to judge and often make rash decisions.  Not so great for human kind – but great for business.  Did you ever wonder why infomercials that air at 3am are so damn successful.  They make you believe that if you don’t buy the doo-dad that will hang 250 pounds on your wall that your picture of Aunt Matilda is going to fall and break – forcing Aunt Matilda to haunt you for years to come. 

Perception is everything.  I consider myself a fairly smart individual.  I also understand the psyche behind marketing and I’m not a label hound.  I’m the queen of a bargain. Yet, ask me why I only drink Grey Goose vodka when having martinis.  I don’t know – beyond the fact I saw a ton of ads saying it was the best damn vodka.  I caved. Don’t get me wrong – I love Grey Goose – but there are probably other vodkas out there just as good if not better – I just haven’t seen their ad or no one in my peer group has told me that I should without a doubt switch.  Perception and a hefty marketing budget won me over.

If you tell enough people that you are the best and you have a “good” product AND you get the “in crowd” to buy in - you will soon be known as the best.  Does Mercedes have the best car?  No. But millions drive a Mercedes because of its status. Perception.

So…how does one achieve Mercedes and Grey Goose status.  You work hard.  You become cocky without being arrogant.  You get your product  or service into the right peoples hands. You woo that “in crowd” – you want them to tell the rest of the world that your product or service is what they “have” to have. 

You see, although we don’t like to admit it  – we as humans like to be part of the “in-crowd”. It starts at around age 5 and doesn’t end. Before you raise an eyebrow at me – listen….

I consider myself, beyond the traits listed above, to be a leader not a follower. I’ve created my own style – I’m pretty eclectic blah blah blah – yet – there are certain things I simply join the masses on:  Good vodka, good food, a good gym and I treat myself to expensive (yet great!) facial products.  I’m 99% sure I caved to peer pressure – subconsciously of course – to many a thing in my life.  Vodka was only the beginning.

Cocky, confident, the ‘In Crowd” = Being the Goose of your brand.

Now go get em!  Oh…and send me your ad, I’ll probably buy in.

Cindy

Print collateral – remember your brand! December 16, 2008

I sold printing for quite a few years prior to owning an advertising firm – I loved it and was good at it. What I learned is that the power of the printed word IS powerful AND there is a right way to do it and a definite wrong way.

Brochures – it is imperative that a client or prospect be able to identify YOU as a company immediately from the cover of yourbrochure.  It needs to be unique and identifyable.  For intance, if you are a private elementary school and you put a child reading a book on the cover of the brochure that looks like any child from any school – what makes that unique?  What screams YOUR COMPANY?  nothing.  Remember your brand.  Your printed material needs to have something that identifies you and more importantly separates you from the competition.  What should go on the cover of that brochure is something within your private school that no one else has – a landmark, a famed program something that isn’t run of the mill AND and identifiable UNIQUE logo.

Not always easy and not always easy for clients to understand.

Albeit, I do lose the battle sometimes – but I do try to make clients understand the value of “Brand Recognition”.  When you see a “Swoosh” – you think Nike.  It doesn’t matter if there is a sneaker  or a sweatshirt on the front of the  brochure- you see the swoosh and you identify with the brand.  Geico has done it with the cavemen – those ads often don’t convey any image of insurance – BUT they have “Brand Recognition”. You see cavemen in a commercial – you think Geico Insurance.

To wrap this up – when designing a brochure or any print collateral you should make it to tie into your brand AND make it memorable.  Cavemen and insurance – no connection, but Geico created brand recognition outside their genre- whether you like them or not, its marketing genius.

Don’t have a strong brand identity?  Now is the time to start working on it.  When you reach that magical place where  you have  THE “Swoosh” Nirvana  then you don’t need me anymore!

 Until then – start branding!

What does Brookhollow have?  A cow and a tag line “Brand your Name…Build your Company”  Enough said.

At left is Raisin the Cow ( in holiday attire)  She appears in the majority of my ads and says it all – she’s branded with my logo for Brookhollow Marketing.  And yes, she is a real cow from Hautboy Hill Farm in Corwall Connecticut.  Cheers!

Learn when to tell a client “no” December 12, 2008

Once you’ve been around the block – especially in the marketing industry – you will come across a client or two that try to snowball you, push you to write copy that you know isn’t in their best interest, or the worse yet – fill a damn display ad with paragraph upon paragraph of useless verbiage that no one will ever read.

For the first few years of my company I subscribed to the saying “The customer is always right”.  Eventually that damn light bulb went off in my brain again  – if the customer knew what he or she was doing than why they hell are they paying me?  Yes.  Big Light Bulb Moment.

The truth of the matter is we are all experts at something.  I don’t ask my gynecologist about my sore knee.  I wouldn’t go to a cardiologist for a mammogram, I’m not going to ask my accountant about what paint color would look best with my new couch. 

I’ve talked about being an expert before. When you reach “expert” stage you are no longer a vendor but an adviser. You don’t get asked to quote things, you are trusted and price isn’t an issue.  If you have worked with a client for awhile and they are still telling you how to do your job it is time for the talk. So how do you tell a client “no”?  Carefully.

Remember that confidence sells.  Don’t be pushy – be confident and simply explain that this is what you do and they need to trust your advise as that is what they are paying for.  It also helps to show examples of other clients that had similar situations and how you created solutions for their problems.

If you don’t exert your “Expert-ness” you are doing your client a disservice – as they will not get the results they are looking for and expecting. You will get a lower than “great” approval rating at the end of the project.  Trust me – I’ve been there a few times and it never ever worked in my favor to go with the “customer is right” theory. Eventually they believe you are ineffective and will hire someone else who will be the expert.

Believe to Achieve – that’s all it takes. Be the expert, be firm and you will get the results and the referral for the next big client.

Enjoy the day!

Cindy

Marketing & Advertising ROI – HOW??? December 11, 2008

I just read a great blog entry at Marketing Professionals about Advertising ROI.  I preach to my clients over and over…yes and over again that marketing is cumulative. The human mind is easily manipulated. After being subliminally exposed to “advertising tid bits” over a period of time – a light bulb goes off in the gray matter and Voila! a decision is made. Rarely – unless its a one time sale, or those middle of the night infomercial impulse buys – do people make a decision based on one radio ad, one magazine ad, one bill board view, one email.  Does it happen – of course, but is it common – No.

That all being said – companies should NOT try to determine marketing ROI based on feedback from a single campaign. That is – just because someone didn’t tell you he or she bought your product because they saw your ad in a magazine doesn’t mean the ad in the magazine wasn’t part of their decision.  Marketing ROI should be measured at the end of the year, quarter, month - did sales go up or down?  Were there any other factors that could have affected the sales outcome?  ( biggest competitor went out of business or moved etc) 

Here is how I analyze my marketing efforts for my clients.

1.  I have specific strategies and plans set up at the beginning of the year or campaign

2. I review the plan quarterly and make adjustments

3. I review each and every part of the strategy – branding, advertising (all venues) , PR  – I see if one or more are having issues and fix the issues, I also see if we are getting huge response from one or more modalities and shuffle budgetary monies towards those modalities.  If you are walking down the street and hear people humming your radio ad jingle – HELLO – more radio ads.  You get the drift

4. I’m always looking for new ways to get my clients noticed – social networking, e-newsletters, PR etc

5.  At the end of the period I do an overview and regroup for the next period.

 

Not brain surgery but its tough to convince people that marketing is a revenue source not an expense.

But I try….ohhhhh do I try.

What is your Strategic Plan… December 10, 2008

I spent about an hour on the phone with a colleague today. He’s one of those friends that tells it like it is – whether you like it or not.  Jim and I have butted heads a few times, but we both agreed that we give each other great business advice – but we often don’t take it right away.  Silly stubborn us.  Anyway – enough about my thick head.  Jim is a great business man and is a big fan of “deep and narrow”.  Doing what you do best and only what you do best.  He told me that the best work I do is when I’m a strategist.  He’s right.  I’m a great project manager – I love sinking my teeth into a project and figuring out how to make the Mona Lisa out of a piece of plywood. And…I do. 

Am I creative?  Yes of course.  Do I design a good ad – sure.  But what I really love to do is work one on one with a client and solve their marketing dilemmas.  I can see the big picture where many can only see the tiny little photo in front of them.  I am a dreamer – when someone tells me ‘no’  I laugh.  I don’t see limits – I only see possibilities.

So why am I writing about this in my blog?  I had one of those light bulb moments.  I have had a few of them with Jim. Usually 6 months after he tells me something – this time I’m letting the light bulb shine immediately.  I’ve been working on my “Cindy Donaldson Strategic Plan”. What am I really good at….what do I really want to do and more importantly how am I going to get there. 

Brookhollow Marketing will continue to grow – but Cindy Donaldson will work more on doing what she loves – being a strategist, a networker and a community leader.  I have a team of great creative minds to be the task masters.  Jim is right – deep and narrow.  Thanks Jim and next we need to work on your strategic plan. Get ready!

White Space – I said “SPACE”! December 2, 2008

White space is marketing 101 – yet it is so under utilized. With the exception of the ever popular Advertorial – white space is king or queen. I  am a semi-liberal after all.  Why is this void so very important?  Here is what I tell my clients – over and over again – albeit sometimes on deaf ears. (sigh)

1. We are inundated with a gazillion  tidbits of information every day. Our minds can only absorb so much. You have less than a second to catch someones attention – if your message is a 3 column by 8 inch block of verbiage within a page of news stories – forget about it!  You lose.  Nary a brain will remember a darn thing you paid so much for.

2. We live in an age of instant gratification, multi-tasking, and no time.  This means that white space is even more important now that 50 years ago.  People want to know what your message is now – they don’t want to read about it, try to find the message or hell look at it more than once.

3. People don’t need to know every single detail about your product or service.  Just the big facts ma’am – just the big facts.  After all – don’t you want them to call you or visit your website?  I’ll answer that – yes you do. Besides- refer to 1 and 2, they won’t take the time to read all the small print at the bottom of the ad

4. A picture tells a thousand words – and it catches eyes, makes an impact etc etc etc. 

Recap – White Space is Queen or King.  Use a great photo – a strong headline – logo in the lower right corner with contact information including website at bottom.  That’s all you need. 

Can I say “Got Milk?”  Enough said.

Happy Thanksgiving November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  Eat the mounds of turkey, the pounds of potatoes and don’t even bother lying about eating just one piece of pie.  Everyone knows you can’t eat just one piece of pie – or do I just make that up so I don’t feel like a complete glutton?  Pies are my favorite when it comes to dessert. (sigh)

Please take the time to truly enjoy the day, the food, the festivities and even the football is that’s your thing!

Don’t forget those that are less fortunate and remember to be grateful for what you have – including that 2nd piece of pie.

I’m leaving work for the day – and going home to bake pies!! (I told you I’m serious about the pie thing)

Talk soon – Cindy

The Secret – but is it? November 25, 2008

Lisie Adamson, by faithful Arbonne rep, just read the book The Secret and feels like many a believer – just that –  a believer. Yes, some of the stories in the book are a tad far fetched but the underlying message is clear.

 So what is the deep down secret of this best selling book?  What does it really tell us?

The secret is optimism.  You need to believe that you can accomplish great things in order to do so.

A defeatist attitude will do just that – defeat you and defeat your dreams.  If you believe in yourself,  you will be more willing and able to withstand the rejection, the hard times and the hard work that goes along with achieving your goals. Yes, anything in life worth having requires sacrifice.

This is where people fail – they quit and they stop believing.  None of the luxuries we now have – electricity, motored transportation, computers – would be here today if the people who invented them crumbled under the rounds of rejection.  They persevered and believed. They were optimistic and didn’t take “no” for an answer.

Read the book with an open mind and don’t assume “getting rich” means being a millionaire – it simply means obtaining the “riches” of what you desire. That could be success, money, love, happiness – anything.

Bad times will happen, it is how you react to them that will dictate how you survive and ultimately thrive. You see, I live my life according the principles of The Secret – the funny thing is, I did so before the book was even in the mind of the writer.  Most self help books have the same message, as do most life coaches, therapists and successful, happy people.  Open your mind…and get ready. Life is out there just waiting to be lived. Enjoy.