Book Review: Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson and Michael McLaughlin

Jay and Michael did a good job of introducing marketing (of the guerrilla sort) through this book. Although this is geared towards people working on their own as a consultant, many of the principles can be translated to your job even if you work for someone else. They have six principles that cover the majority of topics in this book:

• Insight-based marketing wins
• Guerrilla marketing is cohesive and coordinated
• Consulting is a contact sport
• High tech is high touch
• Focus on profits not fees
• One size fits none

This is a good addition to the Guerrilla array of books already provided by Jay Conrad Levinson.

Trade Shows: Carpet Choices

Choosing the color for your trade show booth carpet is a very important component of exhibiting. Why? Because if you choose the wrong color, it could prevent people from entering your booth. Now what I mean by wrong color, is a color different from the aisles. Choose your booth carpet to match the color the aisles carpet.

Color differences present a subconscious barrier to trade show attendees. Look at other booths and watch people look at the items in the booth without stepping into the booth. If they aren't engaged by booth staffers, they keep walking.

I've had trade show booths on the corners of an aisle with booth carpet matching the aisles carpet. Many people are walking by and end up walking right into our booth. This effect intensifies with island booths.

Book Review: Velocity: Combining Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints to Achieve Breakthrough Performance

This is the first "business novel" I've encountered. I think overall that strategy helped make the LSS principles understandable, but I think there was too much romance added into the story line. Even though implementing LSS principles into this fictional company's processes, a large part of their issues seem to be communications-based. Obviously there is a reason for the challenges that this fictional company has, but in real life, each of the company's business units should have been communicating to one another and may have been able to implement LSS principles without a huge LSS investment. If you're looking for an introduction into LSS principles, learning about the Theory of Constraints and the benefits of an unbalanced system, then pick this book up or listen to the audio book.

Trade Shows: Fair Pricing

In the June 2011 issue of Inc. magazine, Seth Burstein of Trade Show Internet writes to Norm about the exclusivity of some in-house services at trade shows. Unfortunately, many exhibitors believe that they are forced to utilize the "preferred" or in-house services, but there are ways around that. There is no reason that you cannot search for what meets your company's needs and budget. The trade show and conference managers know this too, that's why they provide an Exhibitor Approved Contractor sheet in many exhibitor manuals that exhibitors fill out. This sheet tells the organizer of the trade show or conference that you've decided to use a vendor not listed in the exhibitor manual.

In the Inc. column, Norm does suggest some ways for Seth to keep momentum with his company stating, "Seth and his partner need to stay focused on their real goal, which is to build a viable business, not to change the way trade shows are managed."

There will always be road blocks and naysayers trying to prevent you from achieving your goals, but just make sure that you've vetted all possibilities and resources to continue on your path around them.

Check my Spelling!

With my background in strategic communications, and having worked for news publications before, accurate spelling has been ingrained in my brain. I have a hard time using products or services where packaging or marketing items are misspelled. For me, it takes away part of their credibility and screams, "I don't care enough about what I'm selling to make things right."

Yes, misspelled words will happen every once in awhile, nobody is perfect. However, when you receive an email blast from a local business and there's at least one misspelled word three months in a row, their credibility is dwindling.

Spell check is available on nearly every software program that allows text. It's fairly simple to use, simply click the button to go through your text and make the corrections. You'll be thankful that you used spell check when sending something out to your viewers/customers/clients!

Book Review: Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

Although this book was written in 1999, the ideas are still relevant to today's businesses, however, there is one huge hurdle. Seth gives many examples in the book on asking for permission through the internet, but now people are being more careful with their personal information and may be less likely to "raise their hands" to receive information based on their personal interests and preferences. There are some good examples in the book on how businesses have utilized permission marketing and how some marketing campaigns have driven their permission-based contacts away.

Tips for Public Speaking

Let's face it, public speaking can make a lot of people squirm, but people don't always realize that they speak in public more than they think. It turns out not to be so scary after all. Did you know that you're speaking in public when you're updating your team on a current project?

To be a good public speaker, you have to envision yourself as a good public speaker first. You may be thinking in the back of your mind that because the audience isn't smiling at you that they want you to fail, but that's simply just not true. Your audience is there to listen to what you have to say; to learn from you.

Second, assess how you currently present. The next time you're preparing for a presentation, give your presentation in the mirror to view yourself speaking. Do you like what you see?

Third, get some feedback. Have a co-worker or family member listen to your presentation. Ask them to count how many "ums" or other words that you frequently use. Have them ask clarifying questions about your presentation.

Fourth, eliminate distracting elements. When you actually give your presentation, put down the pens (if you click them), spit out the gum, wear clothes that you won't pull at, and remove the change from your pocket. Also, ladies, take off jewelry on your wrists that can clang together as you move.

Fifth, take a deep breath. Remember that people want to hear what you have to say, so take a deep breath before you start and present with confidence because you have prepared, practiced and envisioned yourself executing a fantastic presentation.

Those are some tips for the actual presentation. When thinking about your actual PowerPoint Presentation make sure that your slides are not too content heavy, make the text font easy to read and keep the text size large, and use appropriate transitions and animations.

Your presentations can be improved by just assessing what you're already doing and by making some adjustments. Now go out there and present with confidence!