January « 2008 « Shoestring Branding

January, 2008

Social Media — 9 Comments
27
Jan 08

Before You Start Blogging

Should an independent professional blog? Every day, solopreneurs around the world ask themselves that question. While my answer tends to be yes, I would like to touch on some of the caveats about blogging to help make this important strategic decision:

A blog is not a place to pitch product

The main goal of a blog is not to pitch your product or promote your company (although indirectly a blog can help you do that). A blog is a place to sell your ideas, express yourself and help people, with the goal of building an audience that may some day become customers.

A blog is a tool that lets you communicate with your target audience, give tips, and build your reputation and your brand in the process.

Writing well is important

Some “gurus” will tell you to just get out and do it. However, proper blogging requires that you know how to write well. While embedding video and audio to a blog is easier each day, blogs are primarily a written medium, so the importance of good writing techniques should not be underestimated.

Writing well doesn’t mean using jargon or convoluted language. On the contrary, you must be able to convey your ideas using every day language. Since blogs are a web-based medium, it is also important to learn how to write for the web, and use writing techniques that facilitate scannability.

Develop a distinct voice and stick to it

For every topic there are millions of websites out there giving more or less the same information. A search in Google for “Internet marketing” gives you 136 million pages. There are 18 million web pages for “mortgage broker”.

Since we can’t all be gurus nor come up with blinding insights every day, it is important to develop a unique voice or blogging style so that even the most mundane subjects are explored from an angle or perspective that is original, useful and refreshing.

To develop your own voice you have to nurture your biases. Unfortunately, we live in a society where political correctness runs amok, and where much of what we read, hear or see in traditional media and the corporate world has been sanitized to the point of being bland and useless. The goal seems to be not to offend anybody, even if in the process the message becomes irrelevant.

As independent bloggers we have the luxury of expressing our opinions more freely, to stand up for something and stick to it. Some readers will love us and others will hate us. Those who love us will become our audience. The others don’t matter.

Like real estate developer Frank McKinney once said after being told that some people consider his mansions gargantuan and tacky: “Those people are not my buyers”.

Bias is good. If you don’t have strong opinions about how problems in your market need to be solved you will have a hard time building an audience and spreading your message.

Start blogging before you need it

Blogging is a long term proposition, not something you do on a rush because “sales are down this quarter” or because “regular advertising is not working”. Since the benefits from blogging won’t become evident immediately, it is better to start early, even before you need it.

For example, if you’re a corporate soldier who plans to branch out on your own in three years, start blogging now. Your blog will be a nice asset at your service once you’re ready to pull the plug.

Similarly if you are a college student and will be looking for your first job in a couple of years, you can also benefit from starting a blog now (your blog will certainly beat a one page standard résumé and will put you ahead of other job seekers).

Make sure blogging makes you happy as you go

Since the tangible benefits of blogging won’t be apparent overnight, make sure that blogging is something that you enjoy. This will become very important at the beginning, when you will spend lots of time writing articles while your traffic will still be small and few people leave you comments.

You have to be able to give to your blog without the expectation of getting something back from it immediately. Millions of blogs are started every day, only to be abandoned weeks later by bloggers who can’t keep up or become discouraged. Don’t let this happen to you.

Some final words

Now, if you have read this and decide to go ahead and start a blog, congratulations. Your efforts will reap you great benefits over time: you will meet interesting people, make friends and develop your contact list, you will grow as a professional, your search engine rankings will improve as you add more content and more people link to you, and your brand will become stronger and more valuable.

Good luck and happy blogging.

If you have comments of suggestions I would love to read them in the comments section.

Branding — 2 Comments
25
Jan 08

A great PR case study: Nike’s Air Jordan XX3

This is a great example of how to generate effective buzz. Nike will launch its Air Jordan XX3 shoe to the general public by mid-February, and these are some highlights of their effective PR campaign:

For this, the 23rd version of the Air Jordan (the shoe endorsed by the former Chicago Bull’s #23 star) a collectors version will go on sale today, in only 23 stores nationwide, each of which will only have 23 pairs to sell at a price of $23 x 10 = $230 per pair (the only thing I don’t understand is why they didn’t pick January 23 instead of today, the 25th, but hey, they didn’t ask me .

The Air Jordan is a powerful sub-brand with a great story, and by making all the key elements of the PR campaign revolve around the number 23, Nike is making it very easy for people to remember and share the story. (A remarkable product wrapped by a message that’s easy to spread. Seth Godin would be proud).

By limiting the amount of pairs available to only 23 per store a feeding frenzy was bound to happen, and with it the icing on the cake: plenty of traditional media coverage.

We can’t all be like Mike (or like Nike, for that matter), but we can sure learn some valuable tips from these marketing and PR pros.

Business — 1 Comment
22
Jan 08

Rooting for Tumblr

A couple of weeks ago, I started my personal blog on a relatively new platform called Tumblr. Tumblr is technically a “tumblelog”. Basically, it works like a blog but it’s lighter on features and much easier to update and maintain (some people compare it to what blogs looked like in the early stages of blogging).

The reason I’m bringing this up is because last week Tumblr experienced some technical issues during an upgrade that went wrong. What happened next is an example of how a company should handle these issues, and how well do committed customers react to honest feedback:

Tumblr immediately posted a heartfelt apology on their blog, and detailed the steps that they were taking to improve. The customers’ reaction was overwhelmingly positive (you have to read the comments…)

Companies that offer tons of value, and build a strong brand to the point where customers become fans, will have an easier time going through rough waters because their customers want them to succeed. Go Tumblr !

Business — 2 Comments
21
Jan 08

Why Opt-Out Policies are a Bad Idea

Photo Credits: linnybinnypix

Last weekend I rented a car for a day. I stopped to have a cup of coffee and, fiddling with my rental papers I noticed a blue sticky note attached to the envelope with something written on it. It was a disclaimer that said something like this:

If you drive less than 75 miles, don’t re-fuel your tank. A $10.50 EZ fuel service charge will automatically be added to your bill. If you decide to fill up your tank, simply bring your receipt and the charge will be reversed.

I ended up driving more than 75 miles so this never became an issue. However, when I returned home I did some research on the charge, which I found odd and lopsided in favor of the rental car company.

I found out that back in November 2007, the company had settled a class action suit brought against it by customers who returned the car with the gas tank full, who argued that the charge was not properly disclosed. The disclosure issue has now been addressed by the sticky note I mentioned before, so the charge is now “legal”.

There is, however, a marketing angle to this story, which I would like to explore today.

Basically, by requiring customers to opt-out of the charge instead of asking them if they want to sign-up for it, the rental car company is creating an unnecessary burden on customers. How?:

They are forcing them to read the documentation. People in general hate to read manuals and legal disclosures.
They are forcing the customer to remember to ask for a gas receipt and then be organized enough not to lose it.
Finally, they are forcing you to produce the receipt upon the car’s return (when your mind is usually focused on more important things, like not losing your belongings, finding your ticket and passport, and catching your plane on time).

It just happens that these “convenience” charges are almost always levied for the convenience of the company, not the customer.

How would I have handled it?

If I were in charge this is how the customer experience would have gone:

Rental Agent: Hello Sir/Madam. Let me tell you about about our EZ fuel service option: if you drive less than 75 miles and don’t want to refill your tank, you can just bring the car back and we will add $10.50 to your bill. Is that something you would be interested in?

Customer One: Hmmm, let’s see. I’m going to rent a Jeep Commander that gives me 15 miles per gallon, and I’ll probably drive around 70 miles. That’s about $14 in fuel , so, yeah… sign me up, that’ll save me some money and a trip to the gas station.

Or,

Customer Two: That Hyundai that I’m renting today gives me around 25 miles per gallon and I’m probably only going to drive 50 miles. Hmm, I guess I’ll pass. No, thanks.

See the difference? No surprises, no gimmicks, and the customer decides.

The problem with opt-out policies is that they require customers to take action where no action should be needed. After all, why should you be forced to get out of something you didn’t request in the first place? It’s the same kind of feeling as when when you receive unsolicited email or telemarketer calls.

Arbitrary opt-out policies upset customers, create unnecessary friction and ultimately undermine the bond of trust that should exist between a brand and its customers. Asking for permission first is always the best policy.

Branding — 1 Comment
15
Jan 08

Can Better Branding Make Politics More Accessible?

Photo Credits: mystereys

Florida’s primary elections will take place in two weeks. Yesterday on TV, I saw some ordinary Floridians being interviewed about how would they vote on Amendment 1 , an important proposition to change the state constitution to rein in real estate taxes.

Surprisingly (or perhaps, not so surprisingly) many of them said that they would not vote because they “didn’t understand” or “didn’t have all the facts”. Statistics show that in the last two presidential primaries (where important local initiatives are usually also put to vote) 80% of Florida electors didn’t care to vote .

While political proposals are usually framed in language that is muddy and convoluted, the real issue to me is that most people are just too damn lazy. Making an effort to understand the facts and making decisions is just too hard. It’s easier to just sit in front of the TV for hours and watch stupid shows .

But let’s leave the rant for another day.

Things could be different . Through better branding, politicians and political organizations could make it easier for voters to make up their minds on the most complicated issues. Voters don’t want all the facts . They just want a quick and easy way to make a good decision. All they need is frame of reference, a “brand”, if you will, that caters to their world view, has enough equity and enjoys enough trust, that can simplify the process by just telling reluctant voters what to do.

Let’s look at one example: Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, has a powerful personal brand. He is a popular politician with a strong track record of advocating personal responsibility, lower taxes and smaller government. He is also a very charismatic and approachable guy. Naturally, he is in favor of the “yes” in Amendment 1, and he has lent his likeness to the “vote yes” campaign:

If your world view favors lower taxes and limited government, and you know and trust Gov. Crist, you don’t really need to fully understand all the facts (although you certainly can). All you need to do is check how Crist will vote and cast your vote accordingly (call it the “lazy” approach to voting if you want, but it certainly beats sitting out an election).

I am not advocating for any candidate or any position, nor for people to be lazy. What I am saying is that the dismal 20% voting turnout could be reversed if politicians and political organizations did a better job at marketing and branding.

McDonalds, Starbucks and Apple have a strong brand because customers know what to expect and don’t need to do complicated research before buying from them. Politicians and political organizations have a long way to go to achieve that same level of brand equity and awareness.

Personal Branding / Social Media — 16 Comments
12
Jan 08

Looking for a job? A personal branding strategy to stand out from the crowd

Photo Credits: laruth

The traditional job-hunting approach advocated by human resources pundits (make a one-page résumé, don’t talk about personal stuff, make your experience look “broad” to appeal to many different industries, etc.) is basically flawed: by making your résumé look “standard”, and by rounding off the edges to try to be all things to all people, you are basically commoditizing yourself and making it more difficult for you to stand out from the crowd.

Posting a standard résumé on a job clearinghouse site such as monster.com will only put you on a pile with millions of other people trying to get the same thing using the same ineffective strategy. I suggest that you concentrate instead in building your personal brand online using all the tools at your disposal, the most important of which are a blog and your different social media profiles.

Here’s how I recommend that you start:

1. Register your name as a URL:

Unless your name is very original, it is most likely taken. If you get lucky and it’s still available, register a combination of your first name and last name with a .com extension: for example, johnsmith.com (from now on I will use johnsmith.com as a proxy for your name).

If it is already taken, throw in your middle initial (johntsmith.com),use a hyphen (john-smith.com) or register the .org version (johnsmith.org). You can register your name online for less than $10/year by going to an accredited domain registrar (I use Godaddy for all my domains).

Once you register your name, create a branded email address, like john@johnsmith.com and start using it immediately.

2. Set up your personal site:

Start by creating a very simple home page (update: or use a service like Nombray to do it for you), perhaps showing a good picture of you and a few links to four or five main sections, like:

Your Blog (this is a must, and the cornerstone of your personal brand online).
About Me (a summary of your background, skills, talents, goals, areas of interest, hobbies, etc. You can post a link to your résumé in this section.)
Contact Me (brief paragraph indicating how to contact you).
My Social Media Profiles (links to your profiles in sites like Linkedin, Facebook, Delicious, Stumbleupon, Flickr, etc.).
Multimedia (videos of presentations you have made, interviews you have given, etc.).

Another popular option is to set your personal blog as your home page, and link to your other sections from a menu or from links on your sidebar (if you chose this option, please follow our suggestions on paragraph 3, below).

3. Create a special URL for your blog:

Host your blog in its own sub-directory or folder (johnsmith.com/blog) or in its own sub-domain (blog.johnsmith.com). It is generally easier to follow the sub-directory route (less technical details). If you want your blog to pop up automatically when somebody types johnsmith.com, link johnsmith.com to johnsmith.com/blog through a 301 redirect.

The reason I’m asking you to go through the trouble of doing this is as opposed to just publishing your blog at johnsmith.com is because one day, as your brand grows, you may want to use your home page to showcase the different dimensions of your personal brand (your different products or the different ways your value is “packaged”).

Moving your blog to johnsmith.com/blog at this late stage may cause different URL problems, and will confuse users and search engines. It is better to give your blog its own sub-domain or sub-directory from day one. (Matt Cutts, one of Google’s most outspoken authorities, advocates hosting your blog in its own sub-directory, citing some additional search engine benefits).

4. Make your blog personal:

As you write about your professional areas of interest, don’t be afraid to voice your personal opinions on the topics you cover. Your blog shouldn’t be only factual, but it should reflect your own “editorial review” of the topics that shape your area of expertise.

This is the stuff that will make you truly different to your competitors. Coming across as a real person in this low trust world can be your best competitive advantage.What do you think? Do you have any other tips? Please leave us your comments.

Update (03.17.08): Seth Godin wrote an interesting post today, that validates most of the points made on this post.

Branding — 1 Comment
4
Jan 08

How Feature Creep Can Hurt Your Brand

Photo Credit: webguy94301

Feature creep is the unfortunate consequence of companies constantly changing perfectly adequate products for “bigger and better” or “new and improved” ones. By adding features that customers don’t need or don’t particularly care for, products become bulkier, confusing and difficult to use.

Why does feature creep happen?

Feature creep can happen for many reasons:

The never-ending pressure to increase sales.
The pressure to “stay ahead of the competition”
Trying to please everybody by being all things to all people.
Assuming that a customer wants A, when what they really want is B.

Here are a few real life examples of feature creep:

The software industry is notorious for launching new software versions loaded with useless features (instead of just fixing the bugs in the existing products), forcing customers to spend money on upgrades and new equipment and sending them back to square one of a new learning curve.

Features like cup holders, heated seats and DVD screens, are making cars bigger, heavier and more expensive than ever. BMW, once a vocal advocate of lean design focused on performance, is launching a new, smaller Series 1 after enthusiasts complained that the Series 3 had become too big and bloated.

The electronics and appliance industry is also among the worse offenders: average consumers don’t know how to use two thirds of the buttons on a typical TV remote control unit. In this other example, a customer is visibly annoyed by the 36 different keys on his microwave oven panel, and fondly remembers how the first microwave ovens got the job done with just a dial timer and an on/off switch.

Feature Creep’s Implications on Branding

Branding is all about predictability and consistency. Every time you complicate things by adding useless features to your product (or when you try to be all things to all people) your customers get confused and your brand equity is diluted.

Change is good when it is driven by genuine customer requirements, not by your competition, the latest fad or your company’s VPs. Also, change is more easily accepted when it is gradual and subtle enough so that your brand positioning remains clear and focused, and the branding signals remain familiar.

Think about this next time you are tempted to change or add more features to your products, your services, your website, your blog, your e-commerce site or any other customer touch point.

Some interesting related articles:

Technorati Tags: marketing branding

January, 2008

A great PR case study: Nike’s Air Jordan XX3

Rooting for Tumblr

Why Opt-Out Policies are a Bad Idea

Can Better Branding Make Politics More Accessible?

How Feature Creep Can Hurt Your Brand

Why does feature creep happen?

Feature Creep’s Implications on Branding

Some interesting related articles:

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