The Money Shot in Iowa

I remind myself constantly that cameras - while they may not lie exactly - only reveal snapshots.  How many times have you been questioned about the look on your face at a particular moment, "Are you mad?"  "What's so funny?" "what are you thinking about?"  When in reality, your nose was itching, you remembered a forgotten task, you had a foot cramp or actually, you have no idea why your mouth turned up or your forehead wrinkled?  Looking at photos of my own self, I often wonder, What Was I Thinking??
Cameras hyper-focus an audience on the face and body language of its subjects.  We have these two-hour time frames during televised debates to stare at (and listen to) people talk and display a whole range of emotion, physical reaction and thought.  What  looks  like an arrogant smirk may well be the result of holding back a fart.  These are, after all, human beings.  Farts and all.
Televised debates are incredibly powerful influencers because we are so visual and so vain and so attracted to perfection and so fickle- always looking for that one tell-tale moment when the candidate reveals the whole monty with that one  expression (the money shot?).
Or, maybe I'm just shallow.
I think these GOP (and most) candidates are courageous and patriotic and ultimately, love America.  I had a moment last night while watching the debate where I was overcome with patriotism.   I watched these people on the stage in various camera angles, up-close-and-personal, and I just felt so strongly about all of them.  I was proud and touched by their courage to be up there. I was overcome with gratitude to be an American and I thought, for a minute, that these candidates are all mostly good, or want to be, and mostly trustworthy and mostly meant, or wish they meant, everything they said.  It was weird.
All of that, I think, is a result of  'seeing' the people instead of  just hearing them.  I can't help but wonder how much that affects my opinion and I am trying hard not to let it.  I often wonder how just 'hearing' and not 'seeing' the campaigns of 2008 would have changed the result.
Like so many other people watching, I am listening for ideas, platforms and issues that speak to me directly and that represent my exact vision of my country.  Therein, of course, lies the real debate.  What, exactly, is my vision?
I am certainly not liberal but I am also no longer a strict conservative.  Libertarian ideas appeal to

Here, put this on

me but I refuse to try on Ron Paul's tin-foil cap - although I have toyed with the idea.    Other than the isolationist concepts, he has some pretty appealing platforms.
I want to like Bachmann.  After watching the debates (so far) I am starting to warm back up to her, although, she seems a bit high-maintenance for the job.  How long exactly, does all that make-up take her to apply  everyday?  I know, I know.  Shallow.  I don't like any kind of religion in my politics but I do believe that we should base decisions on goodness and justice.   All of that goodness mostly comes from God, doesn't it?   Whole 'nuther subject there.  Extremism scares me.
I like Santorum.  I actually, probably, like him the most.  But - there's that whole religion thing again.  I just don't really give a shit what gay people do.  Get married, don't get married.  I don't care.  I do believe in a strong family unit and I don't think it is affected by what gay people do or don't do.  Either you are gay - or not.  Period.  I'm not.  My family unit looks pretty typical.  I don't mind if my neighbor's does not.
Huntsman 'appears' to be a bit smug and over-confident.  Maybe he just has gas.  I generally like his platforms, although, honestly, I have not studied him much.

Romney.  I like him.  He does not appear to be basing business decisions on any weird, cultish, Mormon philosophy.  He just seems like a regular Christian guy who is smart and decisive and a savvy business man.  He does make stupid faces while he listens to the other candidates.  I bet he never farts.
Perry- I just don't know.  Hard not to like a cowboy from Texas.  He seems a little slippery.  I worry about international affairs with him on the throne.  Is he smart enough?  Would he be true to American values or be another bumbling goober like our current president?  Texas is one of the only states that is still thriving.  That says something.

Ultimately, Gingrich appears to be the wisest, smartest and most qualified.  He does have that baggage and there is something lurking there.. for me.. that keeps me reserved a bit.

I think I would be fairly comfortable with any of them.  Except Ron Paul.  I would be okay with him as VP, although Biden has proved that office to be fairly useless.
So... what are your thoughts?

Stop that Blogging up there!

 Who should blog?

Social media, Facebook, blogging, tweeting:  All deceptively easy to get the word out about your product.  Right?

Actually, yes.  But who is your audience and what exactly are they looking for from you- the CEO/small business owner/seller of  A La Widgets Galore?

If your audience is looking to you for indications that the company is in the able, competent hands of a leader, you may need to be a little more thoughtful about your posts. It may be tempting to blog about folksy, familiar, familial topics but be careful that you draw a line between folksy and downright next-door-neighborly.  Your potential clients may not be motivated by your gardening tips if financial planning is why they subscribe to your posts.

When readers research companies on line- will they look to the blogger with a consistent message of leadership and motivation or one who randomly slips into philosophical prose about the blue tulips in his yard or the rushing waves he battled on his sail boat last Saturday?  I guess it depends on the product.  If you are selling Baltic Yachts waxing poetic about sailing may be a nice departure from the nuts and bolts of running a sailboat factory.  If, however, you are investing the retirement savings of bio-engineers it may be wise to stay away from flowery chit chat about your hybrid tulips.

Patricio Robles said,

...it's probably safe to say that consumers are not going to jump for joy at the opportunity to tweet with Rex Tillerson, the CEO of Exxon Mobil, or to poke Vikram Pandit, the CEO of Bank of America. No, all most of them care about is the availability of gas when they go to fill up the tank and the safety of the money they've deposited at their local bank...

One of the primary reasons to stay in front of your target market with blogs, tweets and a professional Facebook  presence is to keep them confident that you know what you are doing running your company.

Find your Customers

Looking for the Forest through the Trees
-Using Target Intelligence to find your customers:

It does not seem logical that having a practically infinite audience sitting in front of your message is an ineffective way to market your wares.  Information technology has advanced to a level that allows billions of prospects to see your message, your product, your click-here-for-more-info button.

Target Intelligence is the tool used by savvy online marketers, most of whom got into the online marketing game early.  Understanding that your message can set idle in front of those billions of online eyeballs, or, it can reach the hundreds-of-thousands of people who are actually your customers is the difference between effective marketers and those just lost in the cyber masses.

Mark Schaefer recently wrote:

Become a beefy marketer.  An ability to navigate Facebook or YouTube might be enough to get you an entry level job at some places but to really build a career you should become proficient at the fundamentals of marketing.  Star performers will be able to apply their love of the social web to marketing research, consumer behavior, product development, personal selling, and brand-building.   Get a degree if you can. If that’s not possible, join the American Marketing Association and immerse yourself in their journals and webinars. Read all you can, attend free webinars every day of your job search, create an effective RSS feed for yourself.

Done correctly, target intelligence allows marketers to take the data, click ratios, sales figures, and demographics and put the information into contextual format, allowing you to market your product to the people who are most likely your customers and not the billions of others who are by and large, ignoring your message anyway.  Why waste valuable resources when the technology is available to you to get in front of only those who are looking for you?

The recent emergence of online media such as Facebook, Twitter and possibly the pioneer in massive online communication, Myspace, although, it is now very specialized for the music industry, have made the possibilities for businesses to get in front of unlimited numbers of prospects a bit dizzying.

On one hand, the platform is there- the audience is there- the marketing budget is there.  But then there is that.. other hand.  It is a bit too massive.  Target intelligence is the only way to cut through the mind-boggling numbers of people online- and find the ones looking for you.

That's What She Said..

That’s What she Said

What are influencers?  Who are they influencing?  How did they get so powerful?

When was the last time you researched a product you were considering for purchase?  Christmas time?  Probably not that long ago.  Where did you look for the ‘expert opinion’ on the subject of said purchase?

Likely as not, you went to strangers in the internet and read reviews of the product you are thinking about purchasing.  You may have read an especially useful, well written, expertly articulated review of the Handy Cam you are looking to buy at Best Buy.  

Did you look at Best Buy’s web site or Amazon?  People are talking about that very product there now.  And, likely, you will take their advice.

How did these strangers become so influential?  It has been a wave.  The wave of influencers has slowly rippled across every product line, every demographic, every large and small business service and product in the world.  It may have started with Google but it is so far beyond that now it is actually impossible to measure the weight that these influencers have brought to the marketplace.  

Businesses large and small want to be talked about on the Web.  It is no longer enough to flush hundreds, thousands, millions of dollars down the print ad toilet.  Television is powerful.  Radio has some strength.  But those strangers talking about products on the Web have taken over as the primary influencers of our time.   When will they be talking about you?

So, you Have a Good Idea?

You've produced the shiniest, juiciest, most delicious organic apple on the planet.  Nice.  Now what?
Start a Facebook page?  Tweet?  Start an Apple Blog?  Good ideas, for sure.  It's already been done so – it must be a good idea.

And look- 14,000,000 people like you on Facebook.  When exactly does the phone start ringing?  It depends on how many of those 14,000,000 people are apple eaters and how often they want an apple and specifically, how many of them care enough to only eat a home-grown, organic  apple?  Bingo.  You found your audience.   Now, how do you get to them and quit wasting resources on the other 10,000,000?

How did Dole and Tropicana get so much attention?  Well, that's not really a fair question.  They've been selling apples since Adam and Eve first eyeballed that tempting fruit.  So, they do have something you need.  Experience.  And exposure.  And an audience.

Study your biggest competitor.  What are they doing?  Why are they your biggest competitor?  It's like target market research for your product- and it's free.  Sort of.

Before you launch your marketing campaign, learning about Target Intelligence will give the leg-up your scrumptious apples and you deserve.

Learning who your competitors are and what they do successfully to gain market share will introduce you to your target market.  It is called, Target Intelligence.   it will keep you from spending precious resources on people who don't know organic from – well- a hole in the ground.   If your audience is folks who care about pesticides and chemical processing, they will be more apt to look at your crisp blog entries and pay attention to your juicy Facebook photos.

Why waste time trying to reach that moose hunter in Alaska whose last bout with a fruit involved a can of artificially sweetened apple chunks with those obnoxious tart cherries?   He can't even spell organic.   Target Intelligence will keep him out of your fruit loop.

TMI!

TMI!! TMI!!
Are your customers looking for the latest, greatest, newest, fastest, most cost effective product you offer?   If you are blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting, or using any other social media platform to communicate with them- best you give them information on that slick new widget they are looking for from you.

Occasional folksy, neighborly communications can be a nice break from the norm.  Maybe a ‘casual Friday' approach.   Sunday through Thursday though, your competitors will quietly put you in second place if you don't stick to what it is your customers want.

Savvy consumers look to the internet for reviews of yours and your competitor's business model.  What is your leadership doing to ensure solvency in the near and far future?  How are you addressing bugs in the products you have already offered consumers?  How is your team reaching out to current and prospective customers to ensure them that you will be there to support said product?

Jim Weldon, CEO, Socialmatica said recently, "Having them tweet they had a great workout this morning is more than trite it’s a frickin waste of everyone’s time including theirs.  What would be great is to hear their opinions on how is a player in the market according to their perspective."

So, on Friday, you may want to chat a bit about your new boat, your philosophy on family and quality of life or the Super Bowl.  Never religion and never politics but you know- the casual chatter between friends.  Your customers and you.

For the most part it is safe to say that your customers will only care about those ramblings for a minute.  Mainly, they want to know what you can do for them.  When is the new product being released?  Who is replacing your retiring VP? How financially strong are you?  And, maybe, who you like in the game.

Dog Paddling is for Beginners..

 

Okay so you missed the early opportunities of internet marketing.  You have failed to act quickly enough to get in front of your competitor on the Web.  

Now what?  How do you make up for lost time?  Jump in and start treading water?  Well, you could.  Or, your initial investment into this vast and lucrative marketplace could be well spent and offer you a measurable return on your investment.

Easier said than done?  It can be.  You have to know how to start, where to start, and who your competition is.   That little (or big) nugget is out there for you to capitalize. 

Where are your customers?  Who are they looking to for your product?  What are they saying to your competitors about what they really want?  You can see this for yourself.  And then the plan begins. 

Once you have done your due diligence and know the players, you can begin to construct a plan.  Peel back all the useless information on the web and get directly in front of your market. 

 

It is called, Target Intelligence.  Much of your work has already been done by your competitors.  Use it.  It is free.  Build a team internally who can grab onto to this abstract and real information and begin the strategy of gaining market share. 

Don’t just jump in and dog paddle.   The swim aids are out there for the taking.  Once you have your floaties securely in place, jump in and swim.   Dog Paddling is for beginners.

Gauging the Competition and Brand Consultancy

Advertising has evolved.  While selling will ultimately be about spinning a product, successful companies have changed tactics dramatically.   

Gauging the effectiveness of the strongest competitors in a given market is one of the best tools for the marketing team in any vertical. 

Brand Consultancy teams have fined tuned the art of collecting the data from competitors and consumers via social media sites world-wide.  

Years of touting products as the only, the best, the can’t live without and keeping up with the Joneses has collectively worn out consumers and the internet has helped us heave those old snake-oil salesmen out the proverbial Window.  

For the small, local business owner, Facebook and Twitter and a static website are a must and quite possibly, enough.  

For the multi-regional, multinational and growth oriented company, however, the use of Brand Consultancy is a given.  The kind of market analysis, competitive intelligence research and ROI tracking necessary to enable an effective marketing team can rarely be facilitated from within an organization.  It is a specialty unto itself.  

Studies have indicated that companies who engage in competitive intelligence via Brand Consultants are garnering a larger chunk of the consumer pie. 

While spinning products will (hopefully) never stop, companies who have effectively stayed in tune with the consumer by listening to and heeding the ample wish lists and yes- complaints - that are readily available on literally hundreds of sites on the web –those are the companies that are light-years ahead in capturing their respective markets. 

Consumers are making it abundantly clear what they want and how they want it delivered.  Successful companies are listening. 

Wired and Dangerous Post- Could Not Agree More...

http://www.wiredanddangerous.com/2011/08/no-time-for-customers/

Can You Hear Me Now?

How do you get in front of your target market?  Does it require a team of experts to sit in front of flat screens all day and blog or Facebook or Tweet?
It can.  Unless you are a typical small to medium business looking to grow and know that without Target Intelligence your WWW message is largely lost in the vastness of Cyber-space.
What is Target Intelligence?  In a manner of speaking, it is the end result of wading through, sorting out, quantifying and quantilyzing massive amounts of information.  What is left is –your audience.  Your customers.  The people who are looking for your product.  Or your competitors.  Depends on how aggressive you are in sorting through all the information to get there whether they find you- or your competitor.

Spending massive amounts of money on leads, old fashioned marketing and advertising is quickly becoming - well - old fashioned.  Cutting edge technology allows business owners to launch effective marketing campaigns and quickly and effectively put their product smack in front of the very people who are looking for it.

One key element to this successful marketing campaign is knowing exactly what it is your customers are actually asking for and being the first to offer it to them.  It is a pretty good bet your competitors are looking for that same information.

It is certain that your customers are out there- and looking for your service/product.  The question is, can you see them?  Can you get in front of them?  Can you hear them?

We've Always Done it that way!!

 We've Always Done it that way!!

Not all business is created equal.  Or, equally.  It can't be.  That would not make sense.  Not everybody sells ice cream or computers or fingernail polish.   Creators of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Dell Computers and Sally Hansen nail products knew this.  The CEO's and shareholders of these companies know it, even today.

They also knew, a long time ago, that their customers are individuals who are surrounded by individuals who are influenced by individuals and that ultimately, those influencers are who they need to listen to and understand.

When your company allocates its marketing spend, does it go after the same set of customers year after year or does its strategy include finding even more customers?   How do you find them?  By talking to your old customers and asking for referrals?  Well, yes.  But hopefully, your marketing team understands that process will keep the growth status-quo.  Which may be fine.  But why have a team?  Just one guy cranking out the same ad dollars and same old tired campaign year after year would be sufficient.  Right?  Only if the company is as big as you want it to be.

If, like most companies, the ultimate goal is growth, finding new ways to reach new customers is priority one.  Social media marketing is wide open.  It is also overwhelmingly crowded.  Learning to market to your target audience is called Intelligence Marketing.  It may require more than one guy cranking out yellow-page ads.  The return will certainly pay for a bigger team.
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Your Bottom Line

There was a time- not so long ago- when people ‘landed' a job with benefits, decent pay and retirement and then stayed with that job for 30 years and retired. Hard to imagine that scenario these days. Many companies don't even last 30 years. Most don't fund retirement plans or offer much in the way of benefits. The most definitive change, though, is that people want something the company doesn't offer. More money, a shorter commute, a different shift or work environment or, God-forbid, a more meaningful way to spend a good deal of their lives. People have decided to choose their own bottom line.

The same used to be true of Insurance companies. Many people had long relationships with small-town insurance agents and remained loyal to that agent or insurance company for many years. Eventually, the children of these loyal customers would start their own policies with that same agent and remain faithful for several years.

Both of those practices  have changed for the better. People are savvier now and understand that ‘following the money' in a job may mean sacrificing what is more important to them. Family, meaningful work, values, choosing where to raise a family has trumped the old standards of following the money.

As insurance companies have raced to catch up with the rising cost of losses in recent years, rates have soared, doubling and tripling with some companies. Loyalty is now reserved for more personal aspects of our lives while choosing an insurance carrier and/or agent, is mostly price driven.

A-Rated Companies are Important
That's not to say customer service and being insured by an A+ rated company is not important- it is, in fact, critical, and insurance companies know it.

More and more of an insurance company's operating dollars are funneled into massive customer service training programs and marketing campaigns to keep existing customers happy and attract the new breed of price savvy shoppers.

Warm Fuzzy Ad Campaigns  
Much of these dollars are spent on ad campaigns that hope to win new customers with images of friendly agents, real people who genuinely care about you and help you when you face a loss. Heartfelt discussions about whether or not you are ‘really' covered in an accident, good neighbors who show up with a shop-vac when your basement gets wet. It's all about you. Very powerful images. And the insurance companies hope like hell you buy into them.   They have to…Fat Cats at the Top are the ones who spent the company's money to create those images - and training programs that teach employees to value you- the customer. Whether it's true or not, or whether you believe it or not will only be revealed to these folks in terms of bottom-line numbers at the end of the year; i.e. did the company grow (and will the Fat Cat get a huge bonus)?

The wave of ‘customer-centered' training going on in big insurance companies is massive and trickles down to the agents who actually serve the customer face-to-face. It is all encompassing. Insurance companies know you are shopping. They want you to feel good about the money you are spending- not because you want to- but because the State requires that you purchase the product insurance companies sell.

 It's the Law
As most consumers are starting to realize, the dirty little secret is this: all insurance policy forms in a particular state are exactly the same. Whether you buy from a good neighbor or a guy jumping off a bridge with an umbrella, the policy you purchase offers the exact same legal coverage. Oh, it may look different, be called something different (super-deluxe-extra-special-customer policy), it may offer different discounts and rewards or special perks that you can pick and choose as you need (and want to pay for) but, it is the same policy  The only differences are the costs for ‘optional' coverage's, such as full coverage (physical damage coverage), increased (or decreased liability coverage) car rental coverage, towing and labor. Behavioral discounts (good driver, good student, driver's training) may be better or more generous, underwriting guidelines (what you can and can't get away with to be offered the policy) may be different, and ultimately, the rates may be considerably different, but the actual liability policy is the same. It's the law.

 How Much? 
The real question, is this; when it comes to how you spend your money on home and auto insurance, is your loyalty to a company most important or will your own bottom line determine which company you choose to protect you?  Assuming most of us will always choose a highly rated company, one that has a good history of paying claims, financial solvency and a good reputation, the real question is, how are the rates?

Paying a little more to stay with a trusted agent who sells only one brand of insurance is common. Paying a lot more is history. Choose wisely but choose with the confidence that policies are not written in stone. You can change insurance companies anytime you want or need. Loyalty is sometimes rewarded with ‘discounts' in some companies but insurance companies recoup the revenue loss for those discounts by raising the cost of other coverage's. Nothing is free. Insurance companies are not operating charities.

Independent Agents Offer Choices
If your agent offers more than one carrier of insurance Independent Agency you may be able to stay with that agency when rates are increased. If rates in one company are increased drastically,  your agent is able to move you into another more competitive company.  That is much easier than trying to find another agent with whom you are comfortable. Ultimately, the policy will be the same. The agent will be the same. The rates may be significantly easier on the bottom line. And the bottom line is, after all, up to you.
Want to know more about insurance coverage in Kansas?  Email me @ mychoice@agenttagins.net

Your Toolbar is a Spy!

My kids have never understood why they get so much email spam, viruses and malware on their computers.

When I sit down to run a cleanup program, I am always shocked and just a little disgusted to see that they have installed 5 or more handy tool bars on their homepage.  Everything from Google, Yahoo, Shopping Network, TV Now, and more.  There is hardly any space left for text or emails.

I question them about the use of such nonsense and they are never sure how the silly things got there to begin with.

What these tool bars do is collect information about you and send it to ad placement firms all over the country.  They can track keystrokes and websites you visit and most certainly report those findings back to the ad companies that are looking for an audience for their clients.

Ever wonder how Spokeo and Rapleaf know where you live and how many kids you have under 18 in your home?  You, no doubt, told them.  When you install programs and applications, add-ons and such to your computer, for your own convenience,  you gave them permission.  Somewhere in the install process there is a ‘do you agree' button which may include you giving permission for these companies to collect data about you and reveal it to any number of sources who are requesting it.

In recent months, the FTC has taken these actions about this kind of secret information gathering:

The Commission has used its Section 5 powers to pursue deception claims against online companies for a variety of Internet-related claims unrelated to a violation of published privacy policies. These include claims against:

1. spyware and adware distributors that surreptitiously downloaded software onto unsuspecting users'computers,[8]
2. those who made materially deceptive representations in marketing a spyware removal product,[9]
3. those who made fraudulent claims in selling prescription drugs online,[10]
4. a credit reporting company that failed to verify the identity of persons to whom it was disclosing confidentialconsumer information and failed to monitor unauthorized activities,[11]
5. a reverse auction site that used improper promotional activities to solicit users of a competitive auction site,[12] and

• unauthorized charges in connection with "phishing."[13]

Who is spying on you?