Righteous Marketing

Many of you may think I mixed my metaphors in this title, because I did. I decided it was a little bit of “Head in the Clouds” and a little bit of “Above the Clouds.” The inspiration for my mixed metaphor came while skiing at Pebble Creek Ski Resort in Inkom, Idaho yesterday. Most of the day had been cloudy, but toward the end of the day we started to see a little sunlight. On the last run of the day I snapped this picture from the top of the mountain.

Perspective

I had a great day skiing, even though it was cloudy. I could still see far enough down the run to pick my lines, avoid rocks and have a good time. However, I needed to get above the clouds to see just how clearly I COULD be seeing things. The same goes for our businesses and lives. We plug along, making the best decisions we can with the limited sight we have. We are successful and think everything is okay. However, we COULD be seeing much more clearly if we took the time to periodically head above the clouds.

For me, I read books to get a better perspective. Seth Godin is one of my favorite authors for this purpose, but there are many others. Occasionally I’ll read a blog post that produces a similar effect. No matter the method, the point is to get up high enough to where you can see clearer. How do you do it? What works for you?

Growing up on a farm in Idaho, I was the son that gave my dad the most grief. Not because I was lazy or didn’t possess the ability to help around the farm, but because I always questioned how we did things on the farm. Here is a fairly typical situation:

1. Dad tells me to reset a line of sprinkler pipes from one end of the field to the other. Since this particular line is extra long he reminds me to make two trips with the tractor and trailer.
2. I think to myself, “Two trips? Surely there must be a faster way.”
3. I therefore load the entire line in one trailer load.
4. However, there are too many pipes and I end up creating what appears to be a massive game of “Pick-Up Sticks” with 40-foot aluminium pipes.
5. Lesson? Dad knows what he’s doing because he’s done it many times before.

For most people, this would represent the end of the story. Dad was right, so next time move the line in two trips. However, I knew there had to be a better way. Luckily, many farm tasks don’t require a lot of mental exertion, so I had time to devise a different strategy for next time.

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again

After analyzing my previous failure I realized that two criteria were pivotal to the problem. First, the trailer was a set width and second, the number of pipes wasn’t going to change. With these constraints I decided that I needed to arrange/stack the pipes more efficiently.

The first row went sprinkler heads down, so pipes with long risers would go on the bottom. Shorter risers on top since a third row would need to be lifted over these risers to slide into the spaces. Another opportunity was the riser plates. If you lined up the pipes evenly the riser plates limited the number of pipes you could fit in a row. By staggering the riser plates I was able to get 2 more pipes on each row. So what happened?

Success!

Yes, I was able to get the line moved in 1 trip. However, the careful arranging did take a little more time (though not as much as a second trip) on loading and unloading. So, why do I tell this story? Because in your business today either you or your employees (or both) are doing repetitive tasks. But is anyone asking the question “Is there a better way?”

The Principle

This very simple question, “Is there a better way?”, relates to many of your efforts. You may be getting good results from your PPC, but could you be getting better results? Your site is earning a positive ROI, but with some conversion optimization, could you be getting a higher ROI? What could you do better? Is someone in your organization asking this question?

Photo by Andrew Stawarz

You may have seen a couple of these commercials on TV, but this is the most complete compilation of Dos Equis commercials for their “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign. I think they’re hilarious, so if you need a quick 7-minute break today, here you go!

Happy New Year!

In 2009 I began the year by listing my resolutions for Righteous Marketing. Looking back at those resolutions I feel that I successfully accomplished those goals (though not perfectly since I missed a couple posts). In keeping with this tradition I would like to publicly post my goals again so that you can hold me accountable and maybe help a little too.

2010 Goals & Resolutions

1. Refresh the look and feel of Righteous Marketing – I’ve heard good things about Thesis. Any other you feel I should be looking at?
2. Post 3 times/week – that’s right, I’m stepping up my posting by 50% this year. This will include at least one guest post/month from a PPC expert.
3. Start a monthly newsletter – I look to have this up and running by February so be ready to sign up soon!

Those are my goals, but I will also take requests. What would you like to see at RighteousMarketing.com?

A couple weeks ago I was reading a post on SmallBizTrends.com titled “The Keys to Small Business Success” by Rieva Lesonsky. She mentioned a study by the Kauffman Foundation that had interviewed 594 founders of successful businesses. Most of the statistics were not surprising, except for this one.

“68 percent said availability of financing/capital was important, but only 11 percent had received venture capital, and just 9 percent had obtained private/angel financing.”

This statistic stood out to me because it represents a disconnect in what the founders said (availabity of financing/capital was important) and what they actually experienced (only 11% took VC and just 9% took private financing). How can it be that important if so few of them actually needed it?

Financing as a Security Blanket

My opinion (and I welcome your opinions in the comments below) is that financing acts as a security blanket for many entrepreneurs; especially VC and angel financing. They want to spread out the financial risk so that if the ship sinks, at least someone else is keeping them company. They think that initially, but once they start taking steps they realize that it isn’t so bad. They can handle it and so we see 68% who SAY it’s important and then only 20% took VC or private financing. The remaining 48% figured out a way to make do. And that is why entrepreneurs are the key to the economic recovery. They find ways to make good things happen. Some of them just want to feel like they have a safety net.

Monday night I had the opportunity to attend the season opener of the Utah Flash, the NBA D-league affiliate of the Utah Jazz. I’m even a season ticket holder because a friend of mine interns with them and got me a good deal. Leading up to the game and culminating at halftime, the Flash ran a publicity stunt that was supposed to get Michael Jordan to Utah, but went horribly awry.

The Challenge

First, a little background. Back in September Michael Jordan was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Obviously he deserved it, but during his speech he got a little petty and called a lot of people out (watch it here) including Bryon Russell of the Utah Jazz. Well, Bryon Russell wasn’t too happy and together with the owner of the Utah Flash, Brandt Anderson, they hatched a plan to have Bryon Russell play a game of 1-on-1 at halftime of the Utah Flash home opener. Anderson put up $100,000 for the winner’s charity and Bryon Russell went on ESPN to issue MJ the challenge.

The Stunt

Despite talking to Jordan’s agent and going public with the challenge, MJ never confirmed he would show. Basically he ignored the challenge all together. However, that didn’t stop the Flash from hiring a look-alike to be “sighted” in Utah on Monday afternoon with a corresponding report issued on the Daily Herald website. Of course this generated a lot of buzz and hype for the event so that almost 7500 people were in attendance. Halftime came, Bryon Russell came out and then…they marched out the look-alike to a parade of boos from the crowd. Fans even threw back free t-shirts when they realized they had been duped.

Where They Went Wrong

I’m sure there will be plenty of finger-pointing and blame to go around as evidenced by local news articles and the comments on Brandt’s Flash owner blog. However, I think the uproar stems mainly from one decision: hiring the look-alike.

I bought my season tickets weeks before the game knowing that Jordan “might” be at the season opener. I thought it would be a bonus, but knew I would enjoy the tickets regardless. I also liked the idea behind the challenge and thought it got the Flash some publicity because it was a novel idea. However, when the Flash hired a look-alike, put him in the community to “test the strength and effectiveness of viral media” and even paraded him onto the floor at halftime they crossed the line.

Before the look-alike the publicity was natural, arising from the curiosity of fans that something might happen. People could have blamed their friend when MJ didn’t show. However, once the Flash introduced the look-alike they took ownership of the publicity. They actively took steps to hype it up. They even brought the guy to the stadium and introduced him with Jordan-esque fanfare. Fair or not, the Flash then took ownership of the backlash of disappointed fans.

Takeaways

So what can you learn from this? To steal a little from Chris Brogan, it’s all about trust. A lot of fans trusted the Flash and when that trust was violated these same fans were pissed off. You don’t have to read too many blog comments to get that feeling. As for me, I’ll keep attending the games. Lost in the mess was a frantic come-from-behind victory in the final minutes. The Flash are 5-1 and lead their division. It could have been an awesome game for all parties involved.

What would you have done if you had been running the Flash’s marketing department?

If you hadn’t heard, yesterday was Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the Christmas season. Most sites had some type of discount or sale for the occasion and LotusJump was no exception. We were offering a LotusJump Pro account for just $20/month to Cyber Monday signups (cough…the page is still up here if you hurry…cough). As we planned the promotion we set a goal for the number of signups we wanted to achieve.

Some thought the goal was pretty high, but we set out to achieve our goal anyway. We worked the social media channel hard and it worked like a charm – we reached our goal! But this got me to thinking a little about goals.

How Do You Set Goals?

At LotusJump we just picked a nice round number that sounded big and went for it. There wasn’t a whole lot behind it. Perhaps you’ve also done this by choosing some random number of pounds you want to lose. I submit my thoughts on how to set goals.

Investigate, Evaluate and Set a Date

The first step is to investigate what areas you want to improve. Perhaps you want to be more fit or acquire a new talent. Everyone will have different areas they want to work on, but do a little homework so that you know exactly what you want and what it will take to get it.

Second, you need to evaluate how you’ve done with goals in the past. Have you failed in the past because you didn’t break the goal into small enough steps? If you succeeded, what factors contributed to your success. Look for both the good and the bad.

Lastly, you need to set a date. If your goal is to be more fit, register for a marathon. You’ll have a firm date to work toward and you can put a training program in place to achieve your goal. Want to become a better golfer? Schedule a round at your favorite course months in advance and determine the score you want to shoot in that round. Then practice and prepare. The date gives you a benchmark and allows you (and perhaps some friends) to check your progress.

For most people goal-setting is an annual event associated with New Year’s. That’s fine, but I think that people don’t often take enough time to analyze how they did with last year’s goals before worrying about next year’s goals. Hopefully this post will give you a month to really search for areas of improvement, start thinking about how you’ve done with your past goals and set some dates.

Whether you’re going to be watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in a living room with no couch or enjoying the company of your 40 cousins, today is a day to be grateful and optimistic. Therefore, I’m going to pretend I’m on stage at some over-the-top awards ceremony with a trophy in one hand and a microphone right in front of me:

Thank You!

First I’d like to thank my family for raising me the way they did. That includes all 4 of my grandparents who have always supported me, my parents for putting up with me and my siblings for not killing me. I may not have appreciated all you did at the moment (like waking up at 6 am every day of the summer to move sprinkler pipes on our farm) but I now recognize I’m a better person because of it.

I’m grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, my bedrock against adversity and trials.

Thank you to all my friends. Sure we may have gotten into a lot of trouble together, but we also kept each other out of a lot more trouble.

I’m thankful for this free country I live in and the soldiers who defend it. I appreciate my employment and all the people who have influenced my life for good.

What are you thankful for?

This charity came to my attention during the first season of Celebrity Apprentice as it was the charity of choice for Piers Morgan, the eventual winner of the show. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund was established in 2000 and initially was intended to provide financial assistance to families that lost loves ones in the service of their country.

In 2007 the Fund finished a $55 million facility in San Antonio, Texas for the physical rehabilitation of military personnel who have been “catastrophically disabled”. They are also working on construction of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence which will focus on treatment of traumatic brain injuries and research. This project is on track to open in 2010, but needs an additional $3 million in donations. You can contribute here. Please support our fallen heroes by donating to this worthy charity.

Also, a special thanks to Purpose Inc. for giving me a kick in the pants to use my blog for better uses. They are the sponsors of the following event at PubCon 2009:

GUEST POST:

An MBA is one degree that pays you rich dividends, especially if you’ve earned one from a prestigious school that has a good program on offer. It takes up around one or two years of your time, and is useful for both the young and the not so young. It is popular with both new graduates and people who have been in the business world for some time. And it helps improve your analytical, logical and decision making skills.

An EMBA or Executive MBA is a similar program, but one that is shorter in length and meant for executives who have been in the business world for some time and have some experience under their belts. It has its own advantages, but the general perception is that it is tailored to suit people who are already in positions of responsibility.

If you’re wondering which of the two degrees will work for you, take into consideration the following points before you make your decision:

• If you’re fresh out of college, it’s best to go for an MBA. You would not qualify for an EMBA which often requires at least three years of work experience.
• If you don’t have time on your side, you’re better off going with an EMBA. If you cannot take time off from work or if you don’t want to spend two years on a degree course, an EMBA would do just as well as an MBA.
• If your company is sponsoring your degree, you’re most likely going to have to take an EMBA course, because this is often custom-designed for working executives.
• If you want to study a comprehensive course, you’d do well to choose the MBA because the coursework is more detailed.
• Depending on the school you choose, some EMBA programs are very hastily put together and often resemble MBA programs hacked and joined together here and there.
• EMBA classes often have fewer students.
• If you’re a mature adult, you may find an MBA class filled with typical college students who may not be as serious about the degree as you are.

No matter what your choice of degree, ensure that you choose a good school, because at the end of the day, your degree is only as worthy as the reputation and legitimacy of the school you choose to earn it from.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of online executive mba programs. Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com