Brick Marketing recently wrote on the Search Engine Optimization Journal blog about a company called Goldline Research. There are several things that strike me as odd about this company and its way of doing business.

First, the “out of the gate” contact with this company, according to the writer of the blog post, was that they were working on a “research study” that will subsequently be published in the popular business magazine Inc. So far so good. Except that later, after spending at least an hour of Brick Marketing’s time on the phone conducting their “research” the company then drops a big bomb - they want $5,500 from Brick Marketing before they can proceed. What a chin dropper!

I’ve got to say, this is not how research companies work and it certainly isn’t the way a journalist who is publishing an article in a leading magazine would work. Big red flag there!

My regular readers know that I spent years working in the marketing department of a Fortune 500 company and so I have a unique perspective on these types of encounters. If any company ever asks you for money in order to be included in a market research study or a magazine article, run - don’t walk - the other way. And, better yet, call the Better Business Bureau and report them. That’s not only bad business practices, but it’s unethical.

Now, I don’t know Goldline Research and all I have to go on is Brick Marketing’s blog post. I am getting the facts second-hand, but I definitely never recommend doing business with any company that engages in such practices. If you are ever contacted by a company claiming to be conducting research in your industry or wanting to write a magazine article then I suggest you do the following before you agree to be included:

• Verify the company’s credentials - Check with the BBB and other professional organizations to see if they have a history or background of complaints and ethical business practices. Are they a new business? If so, chances are they are not what they seem. While it isn’t entirely impossible, new businesses generally don’t get publishing contracts with leading national publications unless they have other things going for them.
• Ask lots of questions - The No. 1 question you should ask is “Will this cost me any money?” If they ask for a fee, say “No” and move quickly to the nearest phone to report the company to the BBB and your state’s scam hotline. Every state has a chain letter division and an attorney general’s office who can lead you in the right direction. Also, if the company is claiming that an article will be published in a certain magazine then ask whose name will be on the article as the byline. Companies don’t write articles. People do. If they don’t know who will be the author of the article then ask them to call you back when they do.
• Call the magazine - If, as in this case, you are given the name of a particular magazine in which an article is scheduled to be published, call the magazine to verify it. If they’ve never heard of the company conducting the research or say that they have no such scheduled article then let them know that someone is out there misrepresenting them and their legal department can handle it.
• Don’t get too excited - While good opportunities do present themselves from time to time, be wary of anything that sounds too good to be true. Brick Marketing’s enthusiasm at the outset may have contributed to their big letdown in the end. While I am not saying they are totally to blame for their own misinterpretation of the original call, if a legitimate opportunity does arise for you and your company then it is a cause for celebration, but don’t get too excited about it and lose your head.

Leading magazines do from time to time conduct studies like this one, but they generally have a staff write do it. Third party research firms do not ask for money when conducting research of this nature. Don’t let the wolves at your door and if by any chance you open the door to see one smiling and licking his fingers, slam the door in his face - otherwise, you may find yourself eaten out of house and business. Or just eaten.

Not many people are talking about integrated marketing. But they should be.

You might be asking, “What is integrated marketing?” Good question. Integrated marketing is taking your existing traditional marketing strategies and incorporating them with new media marketing, or online marketing. It is not only a powerful approach to marketing your small business, but it’s essential.

Small business marketing is an art as much as a science. You have the big budgets that large corporations have so you must get creative. That’s one of the benefits to marketing yourself online. Most Internet marketing strategies don’t require huge budgets. You can do a lot of the work yourself and achieve great results just by logging on and tuning in. But you don’t want to abandon any off line marketing that you may be doing. Therefore, you want to make sure your Internet marketing works with your current marketing strategy and not against it.

The Melberg Marketing Blue Chip Marketing Tips blog is designed to help you transition from traditional marketing to Internet marketing. Whereas I try to focus primarily on Internet marketing topics here at Small Business Mavericks, at BlueChipMarketingTips.com I’ll show you how to integrate your online marketing with your traditional marketing for maximum effectiveness. If you read just two blogs today, let Blue Chip Marketing Tips be the other one.

By Guest Author Diane Autey of Projects Done Write

“Stay in touch” is advice we often hear when our business is dependent upon relationship-building. It makes sense. As a marketing and business writer, I developed a Stay in Touch Program to keep in front of my clients and prospects on a regular basis. The first mailing was a letter introducing the program. Subsequent mailings are postcards or letters sharing a newsy update or helpful tip from my industry. Here is the latest postcard I will be mailing to my contacts:

5 Steps to Powerful Business Letters

You need to write a business letter so you sit down at the computer and… ya got nothin’. You stare at the screen, not certain how to start. Save this card and take it out the next time you get stuck.

Step 1. Start by asking yourself the following questions (Hint: type the answers in your document. It will get you started writing the letter):
• Who am I writing to?
• What do I want the person to do?
• What is the purpose of the letter?
• Why should the recipient care?
• What will the topic of my letter do for the recipient?
• Can I offer the recipient an incentive?

Step 2. Now you’re ready to write. Go over your answers and pick the most interesting, compelling information. Open your letter with that. Be sure to include enough information in the opening paragraph to pique interest, help the recipients understand why they are receiving the letter, and give them a reason to read on.

Step 3. The next few paragraphs build on the introduction. Give the recipients background information and additional reasons to act. Look for ways you can break up the information in bullet points or use emphasis such as italics or bold to highlight key information. Keep the reader engaged throughout the letter.

Step 4. Pay closest attention to the first and last paragraphs of the letter, since people remember the first and last thing that they hear or read the most. Refer back to the questions you answered before you began to write – what is the purpose of the letter and why should the recipient care? Refer to these reasons in your closing paragraph and tell the recipients what you want them to do.

Step 5. Review your letter to delete unnecessary words and correct style, spelling and punctuation errors. Finally, think like the person you are writing to and re-read the letter from that person’s point of view. Will it cause that person to act? If not, fix it.

Diane Autey, president of Projects Done Write, is a professional marketing and business writer who helps companies influence their clients, customer or prospects to respond in a desired manner through the strategic, insightful use of the written word. She specializes in feature articles and marketing campaigns that inspire, inform and persuade. Diane can be reached at diane@projectsdonewrite.com, 612-716-7642 or www.projectsdonewrite.com.

Caroline
More info on Small Business Copywriting
Melberg Marketing

Thought I’d share something interesting that I heard recently and see if anyone else has heard this as well.

I was giving changes to some brochure copy that I was working on for a client to my graphic designer (Karen Lafferty, who is great, by the way), and was telling her that I wanted to see some things in ‘initial caps’ - I went on to say to her that I’m the original ‘initial caps’ girl, having worked for years at AT&T Wireless where every product was written like this:

ProductName

While I was talking, my computer fixer-upper guy was working on my network connection which needed fixing this week, and he couldn’t help but over hear my conversation. When I hung up, he said - you know, the programmers I work with call that “CamelCase” … now, I had never heard it, but it’s the PERFECT term for describing product names like iPod, iLife, etc.

And I love it when a term so aptly fits the situation. Has anyone else heard this? Let me hear from you!

Caroline
Small Business Mavericks
Back to Small Business Mavericks Blog

One of the services that I provide to my clients is that of “Virtual Marketing Director” - in other words, for clients who don’t have a large marketing staff, me and my team of virtual marketing professionals manage the marketing aspects of the business for them.

Invariably I hear on one of our first meetings, “we’ve tried (insert whatever medium you can imagine) - it doesn’t work.” As in, “we’ve tried direct mail - it doesn’t work.”

I was beginning to feel alone in the wilderness on this one when I came across a wonderful post written by Marianna Hayes over at Results Revolution on this very topic. As she states, “In truth, it could be that you chose the wrong message.” She’s got more to say on the topic and after reading her blog for awhile now, I can tell we are kindred spirits in terms of our belief that - gasp - marketing should actually get results!

Caroline
More on small business marketing
Back to Small Business Marketing Mavericks Blog

Regular readers of this blog will note that it’s not often that I get up on my soapbox, but Marc Brownstein’s article in the May 30th edition of AdvertisingAge has me ready to spit. In his article, “Beware the Two-Headed Clients,” he states, “I’m discovering a new trend among clients. Some are hiring agencies for strategic insights and creative horsepower. But before the branding process begins, they need immediate deliverables (in) the first 90 days.”

Now, correct me if I’m wrong here but - the operative word is “client” - as in, “the client needs …” - how arrogant can you possibly be to state that as an agency (hired to meet the needs of the CLIENT), it’s something to beware of when the CLIENT has immediate needs? And how slow must you be as an agency to think that “immediate” and “within 90 days” would be considered the same thing?

Obviously, Marc has not spent any time on the client side of the business - where the demands of the business usually require an agency to respond in something shorter than 3 MONTHS! Do you think this sort of thinking might contribute to the animosity usually felt between the CLIENT and the agency? In my experience on the client side of the business, we usually needed something within the first 3 DAYS - forget about months!

Marc goes on to state, “As an agency, all we want to focus on is what’s 90 days away — doing the right research; following a process (one led by an account planner); getting involved early in strategy sessions with the account management and creative teams.” Ack!

Of course, strategic, long-range planning is important - without a plan you are doomed to fail. I’m not suggesting that we do away with planning - but the attitude that as an agency we should focus exclusively on long-range planning and forget about the business needs of our CLIENT is foolhardy and stupid. With markets moving as quickly as they do, and our CLIENTS needs to be responsive to competitive pressure at every turn, it’s our duty to be able to respond to both the immediate and long-range needs of our CLIENT - not to “beware of” those needs.

We should advocate planning - and in most cases when working with small business owners we are often the lone voice in the wilderness, guiding the business toward strategic thinking. But telling a new CLIENT with an immediate marketing need that we want to focus 90 days out is a bit like the surgeon standing over the man clutching his chest in heart-attack-induced pain saying, “you know, you really should eat more fruits and vegetables.”

This sort of thinking is all too prevalent within the halls of “traditional agencies” everywhere - and it’s EXACTLY why small to medium sized business owners should RUN - not walk - away from most of them. If an agency can’t meet your immediate needs and focuses exclusively on long-range planning - it’s time to find a new agency - one that doesn’t post “Beware the Client” signs on their front door.

Caroline
Small Business Mavericks
Melberg Marketing

You’ve heard it before, of course - your marketing must demonstrate the benefits your product or service offers to your customer. While it’s nothing new, I came across an interesting statistic that proves this point and should help to remind all of us (me included!) about the importance of benefits to your sales message:

“Of 901 new products and services studied over a 5-year period, the survival rate for those whose marketing communicated specific benefits was 38% vs. only a 13% survival rate for products whose benefits were less clear.” This is according to Doug Hall, CEO of Eureka Ranch (and also the “mean judge” on a reality TV show for inventor wanna-bes). Source: BusinessWeek SmallBiz, May, 2007.

So, what’s it mean? According to these numbers, demonstrating clear benefits in your marketing communications greatly improves your product or service’s chance of success!

Caroline
Small Business Mavericks
Melberg Marketing

I was blagged by Chilly over at On the Bricks. I thought the weekend might be a good time to give a shout out to some of my favorite marketing-related blogs out there and this seemed like a fun way to do it.

Here goes…

These are the rules and details of the Blag (as stipulated by Chilly):
Each player starts with eight random facts or habits about his or her self. These blagged chosen ones are to write posts on their own blog about these eight facts. They are also to post these rules. At the end of their blog they will list eight people they have chosen to blag by listing their name and a link to their blog.

Heres eight random facts or habits about me.

1. Everything on my desk has a place, and everything is in it’s place.
2. I watch very little television, but do watch rented DVDs from Netflix - and the Timberwolves (but sadly, not in May)
3. I read everything - even the back of cereal boxes - and all my junk mail.
4. While it’s not my profession, photography is my obsession.
5. I have three favorite colors - red, blue and yellow and it’s impossible to narrow it down any further than that.
6. I love to travel - my most exotic trip so far has been to Tanzania in 2006.
7. I spend a lot of time on the water (when it’s not frozen over here in Minnesota).
8. I love my family (including loyal dog Maverick) above and beyond all else.

Here are the eight people I have blagged. Have fun Blagging.

* Aaron Weiche Prime Advertising Blog
* Patrick Schaber The Lonely Marketer
* Janet Green Marketing Idea Blog
* Luke Newton Skatterbox
* Al Kernek Small Biz Smart Marketing
* Steve Rucinski Small Business CEO
* Shirley Frazier Solo Business Marketing
* Cord Silverstein Marketing Hipster
* Douglas Karr The Marketing Technology Blog

Ok - I know, that’s NINE people I’ve blagged. I broke the rules! It was just too hard to choose only 8 favorite marketing blogs. I check these blogs out every week, as they always have something new, enlightening or just plain entertaining to say. Check them out if you get the chance - you’ll be glad you did!

Caroline
Small Business Mavericks
Melberg Marketing

Well, at least it’s the best INVENTION I’ve seen this year - Steve Rucinski over at Small Business CEO has a great post this week that details his experiences with his daughter’s 6th grade innovation fair.

He’s got pictures of some of the best ideas (my favorite is the dog brush-vacuum - I WANT one of these NOW!) My favorite part of his post is how inspiring it is to see 6th graders coming up with such brilliant - and useful - ideas that could really become great future businesses.

Check it out at Small Business CEO.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend!

Caroline Melberg
Small Business Mavericks
Melberg Marketing

I know that I’m probably a bit old-fashioned, but I also know I’m not alone in liking to have actual paper to read things from - as opposed to reading on screen all the time. That being said, I love the ease and convenience of documents delivered electronically in PDF form.

Over this past weekend I needed to print out a PDF document that was over 200 pages long - something I could have done on my office laser printer, but I wanted to try out Fed-ex Kinkos online printing service to see if it would be a viable alternative. I have to say, I’m impressed so far. A really big benefit is that you can order your prints double-sided, so you use a lot less paper. Combined with the savings in toner and the wear and tear on my printer, I think their service is a great deal for small businesses any time you need to print something of sufficient length. I wasn’t in a rush to receive my printed document, so I asked for ground shipping service - if all goes according to plan, I’ll have my printed document as promised, printed and delivered to my door - a pretty slick system that I’m impressed with!

To check it out, go to Fed-ex Kinkos Printing, register for an account and order your prints.

As I always remark when I come across a service that makes my life easier and more convenient, it’s a great time to be alive!

Caroline