QR Codes - Already a Thing of the Past?

In an April 2012 issue of Exhibitor Magazine, a news brief says that NFC technology is expected to outlast QR (quick response) codes. "Researches called QR codes little more than a place holder in wireless communication, as NFC is considered by many to be a superior technology." Don't drop QR codes from your marketing campaigns just yet - researchers don't think it will be mainstream until 2016.

Not sure what NFC technology is? Have you seen the funny Samsung SIII phone commercial? The transfer of data between two phones is an example of NFC technology.

Some countries are already using NFC technology for public transit, but there are some security issues that need to be ironed out first. A data transfer can apparently be eavesdropped on from up to 10 meters away. As with any up-and-coming technology, make sure to do your research on whether it's right for implementation with your activities. Also, future predictions are what they are: predictions. In elementary school I was told that we'd have flying cars by 2006 and I'm still driving around on land just like everybody else.

New Year's Resolution: Get Involved!

It's almost here - the New Year and New Year's Resolution! This year resolve to get more involved in an industry or community organization. I'm not just talking about signing up to be a member, but really getting involved. Many organizations have committees you can sign-up to join or you could get more involved with a position like Secretary or President.

In addition to feeling good about volunteering, you will also gain valuable networking time with people in your industry or your community. Don't have an organization in mind? Simply Google a topic that interests you, for instance "engineer organizations."

Before you dive into volunteering, a word of caution. It can be fulfilling to sign-up for a lot of tasks to help out. Before you take on anything, think about how much time you have to dedicate to volunteering each month and be up front with the organization or volunteer organizers about how much time you have to dedicate. Many will just be happy to have an extra set of hands to help progress the organization's priorities along.

Lastly, don't forget to add your involvement in any organization on your LinkedIn profile. Your online profile is a great way to categorize and display all of your activities (not just your volunteering activities).

Have and happy, prosperous and fulfilling 2013!!

Book Review: The Fun Minute Manager

At a seminar during EXHIBITOR 2012, I won the book titled "The Fun Minute Manager" by Bob Pike, Robert Ford and John Newstrom. Six months later, I finally had a chance to read it! This book was a very quick read and described ways to be a "Fun Minute Manager" through an actual story. The main character Bob is not having fun at work and this book goes through his journey (by talking to a mentor and some converted "fun" managers).

Going through the steps of making work more fun, while still placing work responsibilities at the forefront, can be done. The book goes through ideas of what to do in various types of work places (places where clients come into the office vs. places where clients don't come into the office often); it goes through how to talk to your manager about implementing ideas; and working with hesitant co-workers.

The main things that this book can teach you right off the bat is that consistency with whatever you implement is really important. Read this book if you're looking for ideas to implement to make your workplace a more fun and enjoyable place to be. If you go to work enjoy being there everyday, then it's not work!

Last Minute Business Holiday Gift Idea

Hanukkah has begun and Christmas is just around the corner - have you sent out holiday gifts to your business contacts this year? If you haven't, worry not. A quick and easy, yet thoughtful, gift is donating to the Red Cross or another worthy charity. This is an especially timely gift with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts and rebuilding still underway. You can donate "In Honor" of your business contact and the Red Cross will send them an email or a snail mail card indicating that you've donated in their name.

With the GSA scandal this year, companies that you interact with may be cracking down on being able to receive gifts of a certain value, so donating "In Honor" of someone can prevent you from breaking any self-imposed rules. Also, donations to qualified charities can be tax deductible.

Help your favorite charity and include your business contacts to by donating in their name. Happy Holidays!

Top Chef - Brilliant Marketing Geniuses

I am a reality tv junkie and love watching Bravo TV's Top Chef and its cheftestants. These cheftestants are up and coming chefs that most of the viewers haven't heard of. But in watching these people throughout a season, viewers come to know their talents and personalities and make opinions about them. Whether bad or good, these cheftestants are now cheflebrities. Some of the cheflebrities are capitalizing on their fame and culinary skills, for instance Carla Hall is now a co-host on ABC's The Chew.

This upcoming season of Top Chef marks its 10th season, but the show isn't the only place you see the Top Chef brand. They've added spin off shows including Top Chef Masters and Life After Top Chef. They have also taken the brand and created experiences that allow viewers opportunities to interact with the cheftestants as well as the hosts.

Top Chef Kitchen, located in NYC, will host various cheftestants that are preparing a tasting menu for the general public to enjoy. This limited time engagement runs through November 18, 2012 and takes reservations through OpenTable. Service runs from Tuesday through Sunday and two new cheftestants run the kitchen each week. A four course prix fixe menu will set you back $95 ($125 with wine pairings), but you're able to experience cuisine you may not even heard of. This week at Top Chef Kitchen Tiffany Derry (season seven, Top Chef: DC) is preparing mascarpone ravioli, crispy ruby red trout, pork belly and southern banana pudding. The second chef this week is Paul Qui (winner of season nine's Top Chef: Texas) who is preparing onion (yes, that's the name of his first course), poached chicken wings, roasted chicken and buttermilk sorbet. These chefs are able to demonstrate their skills to the public, but really, this gives an even larger push to the Top Chef brand. Making it a limited time engagement makes it that more exciting and forces the public to act now. Here's what one reviewer had to say, "The staff was fantastic, friendly and attentive. Everyone from Bravo was great! Watching the show from the start, it was great to try the chef's food and actually taste what they were judged on." If only I lived in NYC.

The next marketing event that the marketing geniuses from Bravo TV and Top Chef cooked up is a cruise from April 11-15, 2013. Again it's a limited time engagement, but a captive audience, only limited by the number of spots available on the ship. Top Chef: The Cruise is hosted by two of the Top Chef judges, Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio. In addition interactive events, demonstrations and the ability to taste food from the top judges there's a Q&A with the hosts, the two Top Chef Masters and the 12 cheftestants. You can enjoy this cruise on the Celebrity Constellation ship for a bargain price of $799 (based on double occupancy), but don't forget to add in the $299 for taxes, fees and booking charges. And if you want to drink, you should probably add the beverage package at $255. So all in all, you're looking at almost $1,400 for an interior room, but you're able to be part of an experience and special event. Many of the rooms are already sold out.

For someone that is enthralled with the Top Chef series (and even gets excited to watch reruns), this is an event that gives viewers and the public an opportunity that they wouldn't have otherwise to interact with the people they see on tv. These events are beneficial to the brand because it generates more interest and more of a loyal following to the shows from the people that are able to participate. It's also great from a marketing perspective because it's a time limited engagement, but the impact is huge. Bravo TV and Top Chef are also doing a good job of promoting these events and their shows through social media. It's obvious they have a comprehensive marketing and communications plan that is geared towards building their brand and their tv viewer base.

Webpage Not Found

I'm finally getting around to reading the September issue of Entrepreneur and I see an article titled, "To Pin or Not to Pin" that discusses Pinterest. If you still haven't heard about Pinterest yet, it's the fastest growing social media site and membership continues to grow at ridiculous rates. You "pin" something that you see from the Internet and people can "repin" that pin to their "boards" and "like" your pin as well.

Some businesses have already seen the potential marketing value in using this free website and have created corporate accounts for their brands. Using Pinterest from a corporate perspective is all fine and dandy, but as with everything, you need to be able to track a ROI.

Enter MarketMeSuite, a company (according to the Entrepreneur article I read) allows companies to "enter their company's URL and instantly see how many pinners are promoting that company on Pinterest." Overcome with excitement at the potential of this new tracking tool, I opened my laptop to access the link printed in the magazine. To my disappointment, I received a "404 URL Not Found" error.

WHAT???

If MarketMeSuite promised in a magazine article (circulation of more than 600,000 by the way) they should be able to handle the response from the press. Public relations 101 really.

Let's say a company (we're talking in generic terms now) decided after an article was published on their product or service, that it just wasn't going to work out and they were going to use their resources on a different product or service. Fine and dandy, but have a backup plan. Post information on the URL that was published in that article to explain what happened with the product. Simple as that.

If you've decided to change the URL because it aligns better with getting organic users to your website, keep the URL that was originally published and have it redirect to the new URL. That way you keep the article readership continued on the path to use your product and service and you can still promote your new URL for marketing purposes.

Have Your Meeting in the Great Outdoors

Have you ever held a meeting on the golf course? It's a unique venue that you may not have thought about utilizing for your upcoming business meeting. Even just playing in a foursome, as opposed to a full tournament, offers benefits to you.

First, you're in a different atmosphere. People tend to be more open and forthright with information in a more relaxed atmosphere than they are in the office or in a more formal meeting setting. It's also important to note that most people think golf is fun, not work, which also factors into the more relaxed atmosphere.

Second, you'll be on the course for at least four hours (if you're playing 18), which gives you a longer amount of time to spend with the person you're meeting with. If you were planning a regular meeting in a office setting for four hours, forget anyone being interested in that! With golf, there's an expected and acceptable timeframe of at least four hours. In that timeframe you can get a lot accomplished, depending on your goals for the meeting. You can learn a lot about your golfing partner on a personal and professional level.

Third, spending that much time with someone (and learning more about them personally and professionally) can help you build a rapport with them. Now you have something to talk about the next time you call them up, "Hey, how are those new clubs treating you" or "Hey, remember that amazing shot you had out of the sand? Well, I was wishing I had your skills this past weekend - ended up double bogey."

Lastly, anytime you're looking for a gift for that person, you're pretty safe giving them golf balls or other accessories. You could even schedule a quarterly golf outing and take them out, which is pretty cheap, considering you have them as an audience for at least four hours.

Advertising Review: Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines has recently began airing "The Business Travel Challenge" advertisement series that spoofs the competition show Wipeout. You can see the ads on YouTube. What makes these ads seemingly successful are the following things:

• Established idea - The tv show Wipeout is currently in its sixth season and the majority of tv-watching Americans likely know what the premise is, even if they've never watched the show.
• Highlights features - Southwest Airlines highlighted what sets them apart from their competitors (bag fees, blackout dates, etc.)
• Funny element - Many times, funny equals memorable, which is exactly what you want with advertising. 

Now I said earlier "seemingly successful." The success of the campaign will ultimately be decided upon what Southwest Airlines' goals are. Increased sales? Increased brand recognition? Whatever the goals, they'll be tracking those against a timeline. Take a lesson from Southwest Airlines to build upon an established and recognized idea to create a memorable ad or marketing piece as part of a well-planned marketing campaign.

Get Creative With Online Resources: Amazon Wish Lists

My spring cleaning tasks came a little late this year as I was collecting things around my house to either recycle, donate or trash. From all the traveling that my husband and I have done over the past couple of years, we have accumulated three shoe boxes full of sample sized shampoos, conditioners, lotions and soaps. My first thought was to donate them to a women's or homeless shelter, so I hopped online to search for shelters in the area. One of the shelters mentioned an Amazon Wish List.

This is a brilliant use of online resources to get what you need. Not only are women's and homeless shelters using this tactic, but pet shelters as well. They add items to their Amazon Wish Lists that they need in order people to donate. Those that want to donate can make purchases directly from those Wish Lists and it is sent directly to the shelter. The beauty of Amazon's Wish Lists is that you can add things to the Wish List even if it's not sold on Amazon. Creating an Amazon Wish List is free.

Shelters aren't the only organizations that can benefit from from this free online resource. Various departments can create wish lists for their office needs, party planners can make a wish list for supplies needed or wanted for upcoming parties, etc. The only limit is your creativity.

Book Review: How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less

I just finished reading "How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less" by Milo O. Frank. This was a good, quick read to demonstrate how to get your point across in a very short amount of time. Not only does he discuss how to do it, but the author makes a really good point to mention one thing that people overlook: anticipating the point of view of the person receiving your message. Although this book was written in 1986, it made mention of how important people's time is because they feel they don't have enough. I think the same is even more true now with the vast amount of technology and efficiency at our fingertips. This book would also be a good starting point for someone that is writing their 30 second elevator speech.

The Number One Rule When Posting on the Internet

This month's Self magazine had a page called "Tweet your way to a sweet job." While it didn't really talk about how to get a sweet job by tweeting, it did analyze different types of tweets. Out of the six categories of tweets they listed (the share, the overshare, the rant, the review, the Q&A and the yawn), the most important one is the overshare. Their example displayed this tweet: "Way too much tequila last night. Hangover city!"

As tempting as it is to tweet about everything in your life, make sure you follow the number one rule when posting on the Internet: Don't post anything you wouldn't want your boss to see. That doesn't mean that you can't post opinions or be yourself on the Internet, it just means that you need to take an editing eye. There are a lot of things you can do to help keep your boss from seeing certain things that you post on the Internet (your level of security on your Facebook profile for instance), but remember, people can find what you've posted even if it is secure. Another tactic that people use with Twitter is to say in their profile "thoughts are my own." Sometimes that can help with the perception of what you're tweeting, but it depends on what your boss will think of what you've posted, even if you're taking precautions.

If you don't want to worry about the potential to cross wires with your boss and company, be aware of your company's social media policies and don't post anything that you wouldn't want your boss to see!

The 5th "P" of Marketing: Participation

Anyone who's involved with marketing knows E. Jerome McCarthy's Four P's of Marketing: Product, Price, Promotion and Place that were established more than 50 years ago. A recent blog post in Entrepreneur.com talks about Paul Adam's (Facebook's Global Brand Experience Manager) stance on marketing and how there has been a 5th "P" recently added to the mix: Participation.

But haven't we had an unwritten 5th "P" since eMarketing began? Seth Godwin's wildly popular book Permission Marketing was published in 1999 and discussed how permission was needed to be successful. I see permission as a core part of participation. By participating in a giveaway/contest/other creative marketing campaign, you're giving permission. (Alan Rosenspan's website gives a great description of how Permission and Participation are different.)

Whether written or unwritten, permission and participation should have been things valued by marketers back in the day when they put together campaigns. Granted, it's easier to connect with the consumer in the digital age, but the principle should have been part of the Four P's of Marketing to begin with. The customer is always first right?

Top 5 Tips for Speaking at a Conference

At a recent conference, I sat in on an hour and fifteen minute presentation that lasted only 30 minutes. I felt a little cheated, considering I was supposed to receive PDH credits for sitting through the full session. Here are the top 5 things you should do when preparing to speak at a conference, trade show, seminar, symposium, community luncheon, etc.

• Design your presentation around the needs/interests of your audience. This ensures that your audience stays interested throughout the presentation and that they garner information that can be utilized in their professional or personal lives.
• Use the full time allotted. The audience expects to be there for a certain amount of time, so give them what they paid for. If you don't think you have enough content to fill a certain amount of time, either look at specific elements of your presentation that can be given additional content or use that time for mini group discussions/games or interactions. 
• Don't apologize. Don't apologize for using notes, something in your presentation, or anything else. It decreases the audience's confidence in you as a speaker and holder of knowledge. Even if you don't think things are going perfectly, more often than not, the audience isn't noticing a thing.
• Use case studies as part of your presentation, not as the focus. Case studies can be very good in helping to explain something that you're trying to educate people on, but it shouldn't be the focus. 
• Practice, practice, practice. Give your presentation multiple times in front of people that understand your topic and those that don't - and ask for honest feedback. Constructive criticism will help you adjust things to your presentation (speaking style or your presentation) that can help it look more polished and professional.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you're preparing to give a speech in front of an audience. 

Developing a Process

A process can be developed for pretty much anything, but it is especially helpful when you're trying to get everyone on your team to do a certain thing in a certain way that produces the same results each time. How do you think that Big Mac you ordered at McDonald's for lunch today tastes the same as the first Big Mac you've ever ordered? Because they began with a process and implement it at every McDonald's.

A process can be written, visual or audible. No matter how you decide it's best to communicate, here are some steps to ensure your process is implemented successfully.

• Identify your goal first: if you do this before creating the process, then you can ensure that your process is created to achieve your goal.
• Go through the process as your creating it: you'll be less likely to miss a step if you go through the motions yourself.
• Have two people review the process: sometimes we can be so entrenched in something that we need a fresh set of eyes for a different perspective.
• Implement appropriately: think about the psychographics of your process audience. Implement your process and communicate it in a way that your audience will be most receptive.
  
• Follow-up: make sure that your process is working properly and that the people using it aren't having any issues or have questions.
• Update as appropriate: Check your process for accuracy as often as necessary. Sometimes that might be once per year, other times it could be quarterly - it just depends on the sensitivity of the information.

These are just some considerations to think about when creating a process to make things more efficient and streamlined.

Be Cautious When Deciding to Advertise

If you're considering adding advertising to your marketing and business development repertoire, especially if you're a small business, be cautious. An article from MadScam does a good job of listing some pros and cons and making a pros and cons list is a good idea to do anyways, but the number one question is: are you selling a product or a service? If you're selling a service, 9 times out of 10, you're successful because of the relationship that you've developed with your current clients. Advertising can't sell that relationship - it can give viewers a call to action to contact you for more information - but it won't sell that relationship.

On the flip side, you have a product that you want to advertise. You've already decided that the pros outweigh the cons and you're taking the plunge. First, look at your products current demographics - what does your customer look like? Male or female, age, household income, kids or no kids, etc. Once you've determined your demographics and developed your product's customer profile, then you can match that with an appropriate publication or media, whether it's an online ad or a billboard.

Before you get to the decision to advertise, you should do this demographic research beforehand. This information will be an asset to you in developing a strategic marketing plan, no matter what tactics you plan to implement.

Should You Post All Comments on Your Blog?

In the age of social media - transparency rules - but do you still have to post every comment that someone posts to your blog? Some people allow comments to automatically post on their blogs, but others like to review their comments before they are posted.

When you look at the content of the comments that someone is wanting to post, you have to think about what their perceived intent is, what do they want others to see, and what kind of response do you think they want (if they haven't specified in their comment). It could be a public relations nightmare if you decided not to post it (from the commenter) or if you decided to post it (from reactions from readers).

One solution is to not post the comment, but to dedicate a blog post to addressing that core issue. On the other hand, another solution is to post the original comment and respond to that comment directly.

Whether your blog is set to post comments automatically or you review them, make sure that you post your blog comment policies on your blog. Sometimes it's not necessary to create blog comment policies, but if you discuss sensitive (or potentially sensitive) items on your blog, it's a good idea.

For some fun reading, check out the Huffington Post's post for the Top 10 PR Blunders of 2011.

2012: Is a New Year's Resolution Necessary?

I'm looking at New Year's Resolutions a little differently this year. Why should I wait until January of every year to resolve to do something differently? Why not make changes when you decide to make a resolution, whether it's in March, August or January 1.

Time.com has a list of the Top 10 Commonly Broken New Year's Resolutions. Take a look at the list and you'll see that they're also the most commonly made New Year's Resolutions. Whether you're resolving to change something for your business or personal life, there is absolutely one thing you need: a plan! If you don't have a plan, you most likely won't achieve what you want. Your plan must have measurable goals or objectives. "Losing weight" isn't a good objective at all; "losing 30 pounds by June 1, 2012" is a measurable goal that you can track.

Also remember that it takes a long time to make a habit, and in most cases, that's what you're trying to achieve: a new habit for your lifestyle. The 21 day-to-make-a-habit rule no longer applies, instead, a UK psychology blog post suggests that it's different for different people. In their study it took an average of 66 days, but anywhere from 18 to 254 days.

No matter how long it takes for you to make a lifestyle or habit change, it takes hard work and conscious effort. The next time you think about making a positive change, don't wait for the sparkly ball in Times Square to drop for a fresh start.