A Strategy for Content

  

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Most of our friends know that at ROBYN, we are focused on honing our marketing skills... And we enjoy sharing what we have learned! To this end, we are thrilled to introduce a side project we've been working on: The 7 Minute Smarketer.

The premise behind the podcast is to sit down with innovative marketers who are experts in different disciplines and give them 7 minutes to make us smarter. The podcasts are hosted on the 7 Minute Smarketer website, which you can hear by clicking the button below...

Bobby Lehew:  Well, hello, everyone, welcome the Seven Minutes Smarketer. This is Bobby Lehew. Whether you are a small business, a solo entrepreneur, or you manage a large marketing department, this is the fastest place to get caught up on tools and techniques to make you a smarter marketer. Today, our guest is Brody Dorland, the chief marketing officer with DivvyHQ. And today, we're going to talk about developing a content strategy. Welcome to the program, man.

Brody Dorland:  Thank you.

Bobby:  Glad you took the time to do this.

Brody:  Appreciate being able to do it.

Bobby:  Yeah, and you know the premise...You have seven minutes to make us smarter marketers about this topic, or you owe me a beer.

Brody:  Yes.

Bobby:  You can tell we're serious, because we have the chapstick root beer flavor, right?

Brody:  Yes.

Bobby:  So, OK, I'm going to set the timer, and we're talking about developing a content strategy. Actually, I love this topic, because, we were talking about this a minute ago, I think content's where it's at. Google just changed their algorithm again and this is all about fresh content. So, Brody, make us smarter, man. I'm starting the timer.

Brody:  Sure. So, businesses today, as you said, with Google Panda, SEO in general, marketers need to be creating great content, fresh content on a regular basis, and putting that out in all of the social spaces. And web content, making their web offering, their content offering, very focused, and specific to the types of buyers that they're trying to target. So when a buyer comes to a website, if they find a company on social, Facebook, Twitter, whatever, the content does what it should to move people along, either in their buying process, their research process, that kind of thing, so that they can make a good buying decision. So, we work with clients every day to help them develop that content strategy. We have a specific process that we've developed over the years. We call it the publisher method. And it's really about helping companies think like publishers.

We're actually taking a lot of things from the traditional publishing industry, editorial processes, putting a publishing team together, and forcing the issue for companies to sit down and plan their content specific to the types of buyers they're going after.

Bobby:  Quick question. Before they get to that phase, they've actually got to take a really serious look at content as an important part of their business now.

Brody:  Absolutely.

Bobby:  I mean, it's almost as if, I wrote an article called "Content Is the New Cold Call." They've really got to embrace that as a new type of salesperson.

Brody:  Love that concept, yeah.

Bobby:  Right.

Brody:  Absolutely. So, when you're creating strategic content and putting it out in all of the right spaces where your buyers are doing research or, certainly on social, with peer recommendations and everything. When you've seeded content out in the right places and the content itself is right on target, then, ultimately, you're going to benefit from that. Google's going to find it, so your search engine optimization, your search rankings are going to benefit from that. Then, when they find it, hopefully, that content leads them into some sort of sales cycle or marketing funnel, that type of thing.

So, yeah, we help them set all that up. Then, what does their ongoing editorial planning need to look like? That's where DivvyHQ comes in, an actual tool that helps them plan things on a regular basis and work with their team more effectively.

Bobby:  Now, you guys work with some very large brands. Do most of the companies that you are talking with and working with, do most of them have trouble coming up with content?

Brody:  They actually don't normally have trouble coming up with content ideas. But having a better process, where you get everybody in a room on a regular basis, throw out content ideas and then figure out how it fits best within their marketing machine, and where to put the content, how to focus it towards certain buyers, certain keywords. When you have a good process that helps to set all that up and facilitate it in a really organized way, then that's when they really start being successful.

Bobby:  This goes back to appropriating the proper amount of time to content.

Brody:  Absolutely. And the right team members. People that might have certain specialties and how does their specialty or capacity fit well within the overall content team to get it done on a regular basis?

Bobby:  Now, you're used to working with large brands. What would you say to the smaller entrepreneur or smaller marketing professional that doesn't have a huge editorial team that they can work with?

Brody:  Sure, well, they can still go through the same type of content strategy process, figuring out the different types of buyers that they're focusing on, and then, figuring out the frequency to which they need to be creating content. Then, forcing themselves to sit down and plan on a regular basis. Once you get that plan together, the frequency to which you're doing blog posts, email newsletters, social media stuff. You get that schedule, your daily, weekly, monthly execution list and then, you just go do it. Get it done.

Bobby:  It does get easier. It is hard, especially when you initially start, because I've been blogging for several years, creating content, and it just starts out very difficult, but then it does smooth out.

Brody:  Absolutely. You can learn little tricks. Let's say you're on the phone with a client and they ask a question. OK, how can you spin that question and your answer into a piece of content? Because there's probably multiple people out there that have that same question.

Bobby:  Right.

Brody:  Yeah. So, turn that into a piece of content.

Bobby:  I tell folks all the time, you probably have great stories crossing your threshold every day, you just need to start to learn how to recall those, how to capture them.

Brody:  Yeah, and people get caught up in their business too much. They're in the trenches and they don't think about the everyday questions that come back and forth, and what do buyers want to hear about? What are the features and benefits of your products and services? How can you spin those into nuggets of content that you now push out via your different spaces?

Bobby:  That's awesome. Brody, we ran out of time, but, man, you definitely made us a smarter marketers, and I really appreciate you taking the time to do this.

Brody:  Well, thank you. Glad to be here.

Building Relationships with Clients

  

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Each year, Star Building Systems brings their 27 District Managers to Oklahoma City for the annual three-day Master Sales Plan Meeting. At the center of all their reviewing, forecasting and goal setting is their core message that they are carrying into their 86^th year:

We build relationships with our builders.

One of the ways Star Building Systems continues to build these relationships is by sharing useful promotional items with their customers. They know the value of keeping their name in from of clients and prospects. What’s really unique, though, is how the corporate office handles these promotional products.

Each of the District Managers is given a generous budget to purchase promotional items that will best serve his own market. To make it even better, though, Star Building Systems works with ROBYN Promotions to pick out a nice selection of items (such as pad folios, custom usb drives, mousepads and shirts), then shows them to the DMs while they are in town. All 27 DMs order the products on the spot and the Star Building Systems’ marketing team submits a bulk order to ROBYN (which usually garners the largest volume discount available). Talk about efficient!

Of course, this is a company that is known in the metal building industry as a leader. The technology they developed for their builders to be able to quickly and accurately quote a price for a building has truly set them apart. This type of innovation has fueled their growth from their humble beginnings in 1927 when they built toolsheds next to oil derricks to the current multi-million dollar buildings their contractors erect throughout the United States and around the world.

“Building relationships” is a fantastic motto for a company that makes metal buildings. However, it’s also one of the most important aspects of each of our respective businesses. How are you building relationships with your clients and prospects? ROBYN’s creative team has some great ideas. Maybe we can help!

Leadership and Success Through Incremental Changes

  

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Most of our friends know that at ROBYN, we are focused on honing our marketing skills... And we enjoy sharing what we have learned! To this end, we are thrilled to introduce a side project we've been working on: The 7 Minute Smarketer.

The premise behind the podcast is to sit down with innovative marketers who are experts in different disciplines and give them 7 minutes to make us smarter. The podcasts are hosted on the 7 Minute Smarketer website, which you can hear by clicking the button below...

Brian Blake:  Well, hello everyone. Welcome to the 7‑Minute Smarketer. Whether you're a small business, a solo entrepreneur or manage a large marketing communications department, this is the fastest place to get caught up on tools and techniques to make you a smarter marketer.

I'm your host, Brian Blake, and I'm here with my co‑host, Bobby Lehew. Today we're talking with Libby Gill, the CEO of Libby Gill & Company. Welcome, Libby.

Libby Gill:  Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Brian: Glad to have you here. Now some of you probably know that Libby is a PR genius. She's a best‑selling author and an internationally respected executive coach for some very big names. I just want to toss a couple out here. Not that I'm name-dropping, but I think it's a good way to set the stage.

You might be familiar with Sony, Universal, Turner Broadcasting, Dr. Phil, Microsoft, Nike, Pfizer. I could spend our entire time today naming these companies. Let's just say that you know your stuff, and we're very excited to have you with us.

Libby: Well, thank you.

Brian: Before we get too far in, I want to check in with my cohort in crime, Bobby Lehew, who is manning the controls today.

Bobby Lehew:  Yeah.

Brian: We're going to set the clock for seven minutes. And you know the deal, right, Libby?

Libby: I do. I've got to talk fast and give you some smarketing tips.

Brian: That's right. If you can't make us smarter marketers in seven minutes, you owe us a beer. And I'm pretty confident that I'll be buying at happy hour today.

Libby: [laughs] I'll do what I can.

Brian: [laughs] You're considered by many to be a branding expert, and branding is one of those catch words that is sometimes really hard to define. So can you tell me, what do you mean by "branding"?

Libby: It really is. And people I find tend to either oversimplify it or they overcomplicate it. It is really just the articulation of your brand value. What is it you're going to do for me and how are you going to do it?

Brian: You had some great points in a speech that we just saw you give. Can you hit a couple of those real quick? I think it was five of them.

Libby: I did. OK. You've got to have what I call "sticky language." You want to create a whole brand language around what you do. Obviously there are certain things... People go right to the "Oh, we provide results." Well, excuse me, but duh. Who is in business not to provide results?

Brian: Exactly.

Libby: "We have integrity." Oh, really? The rest of you are felons. I mean, you know, it's just so silly. You have to be very specific. And I tell people to find the specificity and the universality. In other words, in this big world of lots of problems that marketers solve, what is it that you specifically do and how do you do it that makes a difference?

Brian: Right. I like that. I'm going to jump to the next thing here, and that's this word that you also used, that's "unstuck." In fact, you wrote a book called "You Unstuck" that kind of gets into overcoming your fears to achieve your goals. I know many of our listeners own small businesses, so marketing is just one aspect of their realities.

What would you say to them about getting unstuck?

Libby: The most important thing is you really have to have is a plan, because a plan will take you past fears. So you do what I call the "CSE method." You clarify the vision. What is it you're trying to accomplish? What do you want?

And to make it simple, think of it in terms of "What do I want this quarter, this week, this year?" Bring it down to earth. Then simplify it. What's not the hardest way to get there but the easiest way to get there?

And finally you've got to execute. You've got to move forward on that plan. To me, the best way to do that is to have something that holds you or someone who holds you accountable.

I have an accountability partner. We talk to each other every Monday and Thursday. We go through "What's on your short list for the week? What do you have to get done? What are your challenges? What are your fears? What are your concerns? Where do you need more information?" Just having that other person to report into makes me get stuff done.

Bobby: That's great. Libby, you've had so much experience working with teams. How does that apply to teams? Same exact principle? Are there any different dynamics? Because I know we're dealing with a lot of large marketing departments and you've got a lot of experience with that.

Libby: Well, sometimes a team can be... The bigger a team the more obstacles you have to work around at times. So you can't let the hierarchy or the politics get in your way. You have to stay very much focused on "What is the end result?"

And another really important thing with teams is you've got to understand your own value. What does the value of your personal brand bring to the team and what does the team bring to the organization? So your brand is all about value. It's always looking at "What is the value that I myself provide?"

Bobby: That is great.

Brian: That is great. Speaking of teams, that's a nice segue into leadership. I know that you coach executives. That's one of your fortes. And I'm fascinated with the various styles of leadership. What skills or strengths do you encourage executives to use themselves?

Libby: Well, of course communication to me is the crux of everything. But a lot of it still goes back to personal branding. I think to be an executive and a senior executive, there is a kind of executive presence, a confidence, a skill level, an ability to inspire and motivate people to act, that comes with that.

People can be very good managers. They can direct traffic. They can get things done. They can manage other people. But to go beyond that and truly be a leader, you've got to find every ounce of that personal brand, that executive presence, and bring it out and put it in front of people.

Frankly, it can be very scary. But when you get to the point where you've decided you're willing to take the risk, people are either going to applaud or throw tomatoes and you don't care which one. Then you've got a shot at really bringing out that real leadership style of your own.

Brian: I love seeing the difference between manager and leader. I think a lot of times they're kind of confused, and there is a definite line between them.

Libby: Yeah. Managers ‑‑ I think Peter Drucker had the great line about it, that, let's see, managers... Oh, I'm not going to remember it right. But basically, leaders are the ones who set the vision and managers are the ones who make sure the vision is carried out. That's essentially what it is.

Brian: Yeah.

Libby: And there's a different between getting things done and articulating a vision that inspires everybody to grow beyond what even they think they're capable of.

Brian: Very good. You also mentioned the Kaizen model or method?

Libby: Oh, it's just the word Kaizen. I call it the Kaizen concept.

Brian: Concept, there we go.

Libby: Right.

Brian: Can we talk about that a little bit? I thought that was great.

Libby: Sure. Kaizen is a combination of two Japanese words, "kai" meaning "change" and "zen" meaning the word we're familiar with that literally means "good." You put those together and it's "change for the good," or "incremental improvement."

I think people are so daunted at trying to be better, to be bigger, to be bolder, all of which I'm in favor of. But we don't necessarily get there by setting this huge, lofty vision that can often shut us down. That's one way people get stuck.

But you've got to be able to set that vision and then take it apart, put it in those bite‑sized pieces so that you are always looking for ways to improve. When I speak and do presentations, I change it up every single time. I can't not.

It's not only studying the organization but what is it that really makes people take action? What is it that inspires them to leave the room and do something? It's the same for any business. How are your systems? How are your operations? How's your sales path? All of those things.

I look at what I'm not good at. And I'm not a great systems or operations person. So that's what I'm constantly looking to shore up. I can think of a million ideas. Getting them done can be the downfall. So I've always got to look at ways to build that.

Brian: I think that's a great message for marketers, in setting goals that they can achieve and then even taking it one step further.

Libby: That is exactly...

Brian: We like to call that "turning it up to 11."

Libby: There you go. And it never stops. It's once you hit 11, then you've got to hit the next 11 or 12 or whatever comes after 11.

[laughter]

Libby: But it is that constant sense, and it's not radical changes. I will often do an initial coaching session with someone where we're looking at different areas of life and business on a 1 to 10 scale. I'm a big believer in making intangible things numerical.

[phone rings]

Libby: Better take that call!

[laughter]

Brian: I know.

Libby: Turn it up to 11! Never stopping!

[laughter]

Libby: But once you see that you're at a two in your, maybe it's your leadership or your brand presence or your sales... I'm not somebody that likes to pick up the phone and call people so I've got a little bit of that call fear. I'd give myself about a three on that. I don't have to ramp it up to a 10 but I've got to ramp it up to a 4.

Brian: Right. That's good advice.

Libby: So that's the incremental improvement. Ramp it up a notch. Then after you've done that, you've hit your 11, ramp it up another notch.

Bobby: There you go.

Brian: That's great. OK. I'm getting the sign that we're about out of time. Is there anything else you want to get in there at the end here?

Libby: Oh, that was the sign? I thought that was your callers calling in!

Bobby: Bad alarm.

Brian: The conga drums.

Bobby: It should have been like a beer opening up.

Libby: Yeah, exactly. I think it's just really look at those ways that you can connect with your audience emotionally. Hit them where they live. That's the most important thing to do, is really give them something of value that's relevant to their lives.

Brian: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to join us today on the 7‑Minute Smarketer.

Libby: My pleasure. Do I owe you a beer?

Brian: Without a doubt, I owe you a couple.

Bobby: That's right.

Brian: And I want to thank you for listening today. You can learn more about Libby Gill on her website libbygill.com. Have a great day.

Go BIG or Go... Thirsty

  

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When Allied Arts of Oklahoma City decided to set a new record with their fund raising for 2012, they also decided they needed a record-sized gift to reward and refresh their supporters. Enter the 24oz Mega Tumbler full of Appreciation from Allied Arts!

ROBYN Promotions works with many great non-profit organizations across the country. If your group needs help putting together a creative campaign that works, we would love to help. Give us a shout!

SWAG or SPAM ?

  

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Are you spamming your
clients and prospects with SWAG?

Promotional products provide a fantastic way for you to reach out to your clients and prospects, but if you're simply putting your logo on 'stuff' and handing it to everyone you meet, you're spamming people. There is another - BETTER - way, though!

ROBYN Promotions specializes in creating innovative promotional product campaigns that stick in the mind of your clients and prospects. From sourcing custom products and developing killer creative to warehousing, assembling and shipping finished campaigns, ROBYN is in the business of making sure YOU are remembered.

If you're ready to take your marketing to the next level, give us a shout. We like to help!

A Passion for Company Stores

  

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When one has a passion for something, that person learns as much as possible about the subject. Here at ROBYN, we are passionate about building high quality, custom online company stores for branded products, marketing collateral and literature. It’s wonderful when the premier organization in your industry deems you an expert and invites you to teach your peers how you do what you do, which is exactly what ROBYN’s Chief Branding Officer, Bobby Lehew, did at The PPAI Expo 2012 in Las Vegas last week.

Speaking to a “standing room only” crowd, Bobby covered a great deal of information in a very short amount of time, while leaving a few minutes for questions at the end. Company stores are recognized by many organizations as the best possible way to manage their marketing collateral and control their brand, but there aren’t many companies who do it as well as ROBYN Promotions.

Systems have to be in place to manage the website, handle the orders, track inventory and ship in a timely manner. Once these hurdles are cleared, a distributor must face hard questions, such as:

• Is the merchandised going to be stocked or ordered?
• When does the client pay?
• What is the cost structure?
• Will the provider stock items purchased elsewhere?

 Bobby’s standard answer to these questions is, “It depends. Every situation is unique and every solution is customized.”

We’re proud of Bobby for giving such a fantastic class at an internationally recognized event. ROBYN Promotions builds a wide range of online company stores, from the simple, yet effective, digital catalog to elaborate stores that feature variable text printing options and the ability to resize ads and create artwork for print media.

You can see his slide deck for yourself below:

To learn more about the ROBYN Company Store, just click here!

Jingling Into 2012

  

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Happy New Year!

The Power of InfoGraphics with JESS3

  

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Most of our friends know that at ROBYN, we are focused on honing our marketing skills... And we enjoy sharing what we have learned! To this end, we are thrilled to introduce a side project we've been working on: The 7 Minute Smarketer.

The premise behind the podcast is to sit down with innovative marketers who are experts in different disciplines and give them 7 minutes to make us smarter. The podcasts are hosted on the 7 Minute Smarketer website, which you can hear by clicking the button below...

Bobby Lehew:  Well, hello everyone. Welcome to the 7‑Minute Smarketer. Whether you are a small business, a solo entrepreneur, or manage a large marketing communications department, this is the fastest place to get caught up on tools and techniques to make you a smarter marketer. I'm your host, Bobby Lehew. I'm here with my co‑host Brian Blake and today our guest is Becca Colbaugh, Vice President of Production and Operations for JESS3. If you're not familiar with JESS3, I guarantee you, you are familiar with the incredible work of JESS3. If you've seen the Google Gmail stop‑motion animation or the State of Influencers, or the JESS3 State of the Internet or the recent ESPN puppet show...

Is that right? Did I get that right?

Becca Colbaugh:  That's right.

Bobby:  You've witnessed the wonderful data visualization and creative storytelling of JESS3. Becca, welcome to the 7‑Minute Smarketer.

Becca:  Well, thank you so much for having me. It's really a pleasure and an honor. I hope that people listening to us have taken a look at JESS3. We are kind of an insurgent agency. We're all over the place. We're headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Bobby:  Right.

Becca:  Our tagline is that we are a creative interactive agency that specializes in data visualization. It's a lot of buzz words, so hopefully what I can do here today is break that down and talk about what data visualization is, how we interpret it, what we are doing to take it to the next level and our process behind some of the ways that we provide meaning and context to data that just keeps on infiltrating our world.

Bobby:  In the spirit of 7‑Minute Smarketer, we have this limited time. But we've enjoyed a great dialogue about your office and it sounds like you have such an incredible team. You guys just had a recent meeting together, but you're scattered all over the globe, right?

Becca:  We are. Like I said, we're headquartered in D.C., but we've got offices here in Oklahoma City, Orlando, L.A., New York, the U.K., and we're just growing by the minute. It's very exciting.

Bobby:  It is very exciting. You guys have produced such great work. Well, let's get right into it. You basically know the drill, Becca, right? You have seven minutes to make us smarter about your topic or you owe us a beer. It's just because we're thirsty guys, for the most part.

Becca:  Sure.

Bobby:  But I have a feeling... This always ends where it's almost like we owe you by the end of this thing. What we're going to talk about today, for those that are listening, is today we're going to talk about best practices in data visualization and I have a few questions to get us started. We want to help folks understand and unpack this and demystify the idea of data visualization. Is it data or data?

Becca:  Ooh, that's a good one.

Bobby:  Is that a million‑dollar question?

Becca:  That's a million‑dollar question and I cannot answer it today. I cannot give you the answer.

Bobby:  That's not even on my list. OK, so what's the difference between data visualization and an infographic? Are we talking about the same thing?

Becca:  We are talking about the same thing. When you think of data visualization, the reason why it's even a word or something that we're focused on is that we're living in a data‑driven economy. We're living in data‑driven businesses. That creates a start to thinking in data forms and that creates a data‑driven society. So what data visualization is how do we just take all the data that's flying around, whether it's financial data or social data. Think about everything that's flying out through Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube. How do we make sense of all of this? How do we, basically, tune out the noise and make something a clear message?

One way of doing that is infographics. It is a hot‑word. I think a lot of people don't understand what infographic means. I think a lot of our clients that come to us, they just say, "Hey, we want an infographic because we know that you make them and they look cool." They do look cool.

Bobby:  They do look cool.

Becca:  But the thing is is that there's a way to determine... Is infographic the right way to visualize your data?

Bobby:  Right.

Becca:  There's lots of ways to do it. You can do it through motion, through a video. A great example of that would be something we did for "The Economist." It was the "Women's Economic Opportunity Index." It was a 150‑page white paper full of data about the opportunities for women in the economies across the globe, or the lack thereof. Who's going to sit down and read a 150‑page white paper?

Bobby:  Right.

Becca:  Now, maybe some of "The Economist" fans because those are the geeks who like to geek out about these types of things, but for the average‑day person or consumer or even brands, or someone like Amnesty International or the United Nations who have come to us and are using this motion piece that we did for "The Economist," we need to dumb‑down or... In other words, it needs to be snackable.

Bobby:  Yeah, that's really good.

Becca:  In this instance, we did a motion piece where we took the rich data points out of this 150‑page white paper and we told a story. So along with data visualization comes this fact that we are visual storytellers. What's the story that this data is telling us and how can we best tell that story?

Bobby:  Not to put words in your mouth at all, so correct me if I'm wrong here... But it looks as though, if you're trying to communicate a very complex story, something that has a lot of moving parts, then this might be the right angle to go down. If I'm a marketing department or maybe I'm even an entrepreneur, a small business person, what are some best practices? What's the work look like with you and a client as you start unpacking this big idea and you try to channel that into a very simple communication piece?

Becca:  Sure. The first thing that we like to hear out is just... What are your goals? What do you have in mind? Who are the key people that will be involved in this type of project? From there, we try to start to digest it. We route it through both our creative team and our strategy team. Because, even though you think that you might have something that might be a good infographic, you might not have the data that's going to meet the goal that you just expressed to us.

Bobby:  Right.

Becca:  If you don't have that data, we can help you find the right data, or we can help change the story a little bit so it matches the data that you have or it matches the data that we're going out and we're finding.

Bobby:  It's OK if I come to you with just a concept?

Becca:  Sure.

Bobby:  I don't have to have my ducks in a row in terms of exactly what I want. You guys are the experts anyways.

Becca:  Right. Right.

Bobby:  You would take that and say, "No, here's what you want."

Becca:  Right. We have clients that run the gamut. Sometimes they come to us and they think that they know everything and sometimes they're right. Sometimes they come to us, they think that they know everything and they're totally wrong. We can help you from either/or situation. You can come with a concept and we can make it happen. You can come with an idea and we can say, "Hey, that sounds great. But let's actually think about it from this angle."

One challenge that we have with a lot of clients is that, and rightly so, they're focused on their mission, their marketing, their product. But we know that, as consumers, we're not interested in just learning about some product. We want to hear how that fits into the larger story. That's what we really bring to the table is how does this fit into the larger story?

We actually call it Mr. Burns‑ing it. I don't know if you've seen "The Simpsons," but when Mr. Burns starts to take over the sun, we call it Mr. Burns‑ing it. What is the state of? What is the future of? How does your brand fit into the larger story? That's how you're going to get people excited and interested.

Added on that, you've got to make it look good. People are just missing this idea that something can be beautiful. You don't have to have a standard web template or a standard graphic design. Make it hot. Make it look cool.

Bobby:  These days, it has to be because the channels are so noisy.

Becca:  So noisy. It's overcrowded and you've got to find a way to stand out, not only in the story that you're telling, the message and the data, but also in how it looks. That's what we really pride ourselves on.

Bobby:  I have a question from an operations perspective. What's the creative thrashing process like at JESS3? I mean marketing teams are typically used to this thrashing process of creating ideas and doing the work.

Becca:  Right. Well, there's several different angles to that. From my perspective as head of production, I love the way that Tina Fey put it in her recent book, "Bossypants." She said that producing is about discouraging creativity. You're grateful to work for people who are talented and enthusiastic about their jobs, and you would think that, as a producer, your job would be to turn up creativity. But mostly, your job is to police enthusiasm.

That's how I feel. I feel like the wet blanket that has to come in and say, "Hey, guys. We've got a budget here. We've got a deadline." That's one kind of source of contingency.

Then you have the creatives who just want to do what they want to do and they want to let it marinate. Creative takes time. You can't rush the process. Then you've got strategy. Those guys could just think about this forever and ever.

Yeah, exactly. You've got the grass‑tops and you've got the grassroots, and we've got to find somewhere in the middle where you have a nice pretty blue sky and some clouds. Those are the three areas where the thrashing happens.

But at the end of the day, we all know that we've got to get something out for our clients and we want to make it look awesome, so we tap in to each other's roots and passions and what we're good at and we come together to make something awesome.

Bobby:  What's been your favorite JESS3 project so far?

Becca:  Oh, I knew you were going to ask that and, man, it's such a difficult question. I do have to say that the ESPN project with the puppet show, breaking down the rating process for national TV, it's a really complex process. As someone who's studied broadcast journalism, I didn't understand it at school. Now, "X" amount of years later...

Bobby:  Thanks to JESS3. There you go.

Becca:  ...Thanks to JESS3 and thanks to some puppets, I now understand it.

Bobby:  I love that. We're going to quote that. "Thanks to JESS3, thanks to some puppets, I got it."

Becca:  Yep.

Bobby:  I know we could talk for half an hour. Isn't that crazy?

Becca:  I know. Where did the time go?

Bobby:  Is there anything else you want to add, though? There may be something else that you wanted to mention that I don't want to leave off, because this is great information.

Becca:  Yeah. I do want to say that this isn't just something that JESS3 thinks that is popular. I do want to quote Google's chief economist, Hal Varian. He says, "I keep saying the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians." What does that mean? That's crazy. He goes on to say that the ability to take data, to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it is going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades. I feel like JESS3, we're already ahead of the game.

Bobby:  Yeah, you are.

Becca:  We're already understanding it. We're doing it and we're doing it better than anyone else.

Bobby:  Absolutely. Becca Colbaugh, you have been a fantastic guest.

Becca:  Thank you so much.

Bobby:  We owe you the beer now so we need to right away. Thanks for all the great information. Thanks for being willing to do this with us today. I admire JESS3 so much. What a creative agency.

Becca:  Thank you so much.

Bobby:  I was even at the New Media Expo and I saw a JESS3 black T‑shirt there that I just had to have, they're so awesome.

Becca:  Oh, my gosh, that's awesome. Yeah. I should have brought you some. I have a million!

Bobby:  Oh, there you go!

Becca:  I should have brought you some.

Bobby:  Well, thank you again.

Becca:  Yes.

Bobby:  I appreciate your time.

Becca:  Thank you so much.

Bobby:  All right!

Above the Noise with Email Marketing

  

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Most of our friends know that at ROBYN, we are focused on honing our marketing skills... And we enjoy sharing what we have learned! To this end, we are thrilled to introduce a side project we've been working on: The 7 Minute Smarketer.

The premise behind the podcast is to sit down with innovative marketers who are experts in different disciplines and give them 7 minutes to make us smarter. The podcasts are hosted on the 7 Minute Smarketer website, which you can hear by clicking the button below...

Patrick Allmond: Above the Noise with Email Marketing

  [intro music]

Bobby Lehew:  Well, hello everyone. Welcome to "7 Minute Smarketer." Whether you're a small business, a solo entrepreneur, or you manage a large marketing department, this is the fastest place to get caught up on tools and techniques to make you a smarter marketer, except for that little ole podcast over on Focus Consulting. Right, Patrick? [laughter]

Bobby:  Today my guest is Patrick Allmond. He's the founder of Focus Consulting. He's a podcaster, a blogger, a pilot, and Focus Consulting has been doing online marketing training for over a decade. So, these folks know what they're talking about. Patrick has been someone I've known for a while, and he is the eminent marketer. He is the eminent professional. Every time I reach out to Patrick, he's always so helpful and full of great advice.

Today our topic is going to be email marketing, and I'm thrilled that Patrick's going to tackle this one because we're going to learn a lot. So, Patrick, you know the drill, right? You have seven minutes to make us a smarter marketer or you owe me a beer. I guess...

Patrick Allmond:  OK.

Bobby:  ...you just have to transport it over to me I guess.

Patrick:  Yeah, that's not a problem.

Bobby:  Then we can catch up later. [laughs]

Patrick:  Exactly, not a problem. Well, the problem is I just don't see you enough.

Bobby:  I know. It's crazy, right? We live right around the corner from each other.

Patrick:  Exactly, I only see you about once every six months...

Bobby:  I know.

Patrick:  ...if that. A big conference has to come together. You gave me a great intro there, and I appreciate that.

Bobby:  Sure.

Patrick:  You're way too kind. I actually stopped by the office before as I was driving by, out of a whim. Out of all the times, they said you had just left and you were just coming back.

Bobby:  Right.

Patrick:  I waited there for five minutes. There's a nice lady at the front desk there. I think she had a candy bowl.

Bobby:  [laughs]

Patrick:  I went through a little bit of candy, got hyped up, and said, "OK, I've got to get back to my desk."

Bobby:  Well, man, it's great to have you on the program today. Without further ado, I'm going to set the timer. Why don't we just get started?

Patrick:  OK, you reach across the virtual world and smack me when time is up.

Bobby:  [laughs] Yeah, and I'll interrupt you a little bit, hopefully, because I've got a few questions of my own on this subject.

Patrick:  OK. Well, like you mentioned, the topic is email marketing today. I picked this one because this is one I just covered on a Thursday webinar that I do, and I'm a huge, huge fan of email marketing. Really quick, like you said, my name is Patrick Allmond. I run a company called Focus Consulting, been in business since 1998, founded right here in Oklahoma City. There are several things that I teach about the online world, but in my opinion email marketing has gotten a bad rap over the years. But I really think it's coming around again.

Bobby:  Yeah.

Patrick:  There are a couple of different products I use depending on the price point. But one of the things I'm a big, big fan of is customer retention. When a customer visits any one of your online properties, be it a social media property, be it your website, be it your Twitter account ‑ whatever it is ‑ find a way to stay in touch with that person. In my opinion, email is the absolute, absolute best way in the world.

Bobby:  Right.

Patrick:  You can have the largest number of Facebook fans you want, Twitter followers, but those are temporary, and they are very loose connections. When someone opts in to receive information from any of your emails, it actually had to go through the whole double opt in process. So, they basically are saying, yes, I really want to have what you are offering.

Bobby:  Right.

Patrick:  I assign all of my leads and prospects a value. I might give a Twitter follower five cents and a Facebook fan 10 cents. But I give my email followers a dollar because those ones are golden. Those are the ones...

Bobby:  That's great.

Patrick:  ...that have a better chance of staying on with me long term, and I can honestly say that none of the people on my email list that have come to my website, asked for something, and double opted in have actually ever left my email list.

Bobby:  Yeah.

Patrick:  I have people I've picked up via conferences and fishbowls and stuff like that. Those people will flake off. But I've never had a double opt in person leave my email list. They are very, very loyal.

Bobby:  What's funny about this topic Patrick is that I was just talking to Dan Gordon on the "7 Minute Smarketer" a couple of episodes ago, and he mentioned that was where his focus and energy were going. What is the difference between email marketing today and email marketing two or three years ago? Is it because of the clutter and the noise online that email marketing has become now sort of this precious conduit that you can reach your audience through?

Patrick:  I think it is. Dan's a brilliant guy, so I'd follow anything Dan would say. But, yeah, I think it's the fact if you can reach somebody's email inbox...I think that's getting a more and more precious and more and more reserved area. So, if you can get there, you can get a greater span of someone's attention is what you can do. Like I said, for someone to even ask for permission to be on your list in the first place, they really liked your voice. They really liked the information you're offering. So, they had to go through more effort. Becoming a fan on Facebook is a single click, right?

Bobby:  Yes.

Patrick:  Becoming a follower on Twitter is a single click. But an email follower had to go through a couple of rigmaroles to actually get there. So, I think it is. I think you brought up a good point. People are people are being very choosy and very picky with their email and inbox, at least, I know I am.

Bobby:  Yeah. I know you're probably going to get to this. What are the best practices these days for content for email marketing? I know that even professional marketers who do this day in, day out struggle with content all the time. It's got to be one of the hardest things to develop. What is your advice for businesses (marketers) as they try to develop content within their email channel?

Patrick:  I would say the most successful email marketers are the ones that approach content very much like you approach a real‑world relationship. Right before we got on the call I was checking my email. There was a gentleman that I'd sent off for his email list yesterday, and today I had a sales pitch email. I'm like, dude, no way. I instantly unsubscribed from his list. It's long‑term relationship building, long‑term lead management. So, if someone subscribes for my free book, maybe for the next two or three emails I do nothing but give out free information, give out information that helps that person. Rather than try and pitch them something.

If you can do that, if you can use your emails and occasionally throw in a pitch, but mostly just share free information that will help the person, I think you have a much better chance of retaining the person and convincing them to buy something once you do throw a pitch at them.

Bobby:  Right. I know you have been doing a marketing podcast for a while, and I know you've had episodes where you advise what tools to use. What are some of your favorites go to for email marketing?

Patrick:  I have three different classes of tools that I recommend. There are the free email marketing tools, and my favorite one there is MailChimp. That company has a great set of tools. They are a fun company, and they give out some pretty cool t‑shirts.

Bobby:  [laughs]

Patrick:  So, when I tell someone to get in the MailChimp, I say get in the MailChimp for free. You can use their product for free up to 2,000 people on your list. That's the first thing you've got to do right away. The second class is what I call...they're all bundled together‑the Constant Contact, the iContact. You pay anywhere between $20 and $100 bucks a month. It's a regular email list building.

But one that I use, and the one that I heavily, heavily recommend is Infusionsoft.

Bobby:  Ha.

Patrick:  That's a big product. If you have a big list, and you have other things you're trying to do with your list like ecommerce, affiliate marketing. It does these magical long‑term sequences. Like if Billy sign's up for my list, I can setup a sequence for Billy to get 10 emails but an email to if Billy says, "Hmm, I want more information about this." I can stop that list of 10 emails and fork Billy over on to this...excuse me Bobby...what am I saying? I could put Bobby over on this other sequence of 10 emails which may give him more information about whatever he clicked on, right?

Bobby:  OK, how about this, frequency and time of week?

Patrick:  Frequency and time of week, I'm a mid‑morning kind of person. I'd say no more than maybe twice a week. I hit my list up about twice a week.

Bobby:  Wow. We're doing once a week. We found with our own little AV testing we did Friday mornings. Early mornings around six is when we release ours, and we were stunned at the opens that we got on Friday morning. I don't know how common that is, but I read that again just this past week. So, that's very interesting. Do you have a day of the week that you recommend?

Patrick:  I'm a big fan of Monday and Tuesday mornings.

Bobby:  OK.

Patrick:  I think a while back a study came out that said the best email open rates are Tuesday through Thursday, after nine, before three.

Bobby:  Yeah.

Patrick:  I actually try to stay outside of that range. I've done one on a Saturday morning before and had like a 24 percent open rate, which was great.

Bobby:  Yeah. I've had other people say that about Saturday as well. I think one of the factors why Friday weighs in heavily on our particular industry and our business is that we sell a fun product. I think people are in that mood by the time they hit Friday. That's our only estimate on that. We have just another minute or so, Patrick. What 401 advice can you give marketers on email marketing that's really going to help them if you had to boil it all down to just a couple of key nuggets?

Patrick:  First of all get started, a number one tip. Number two find a way to give away something for free in exchange for an email address. Just about every website I put up says I'm going to give you a free report on this, this, this. Just give me your email address. It has to be something very attractive for somebody. I get opt‑ins 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, get started, find a way to give something to someone for free. Go over to MailChimp and get started. It's free. Quit whining about cost. There's no cost to get started in email marketing.

Let me see, I have a couple of notes. I'm trying to figure out what other. I would say don't let your list get stale.

Bobby:  Hmm, good advice.

Patrick:  Don't try to email somebody every three to six months. If you come at someone now and you've haven't come at them for six months, they have forgotten who you are‑"And oh, look. It's spam."

Bobby:  Yeah.

Patrick:  I have had people double opt in to my list...and I've made this mistake before on a different project...double opt in to my list and then six months later they'll actually call my market a spam. I'm like, wait, you agreed to this, two times.

Bobby:  Right. [laughs]

Patrick:  But, no. Or they get stale. Can't let it get stale.

Bobby:  Awesome, that is awesome. Patrick, thank you so much for joining us on "7 Minute Smarketer." [music]

Bobby:  You folks can find Patrick at allaboutfocus.com. We really appreciate the advice today. You definitely made us the smarter marketer.

Patrick:  My pleasure, always willing to talk to you sir.

Bobby:  All right man, take care.

Pay it forward

  

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Express Employment Professionals are hoping to join forces with other Oklahoma City businesses in trying to place 200 workers this week so they, too, can celebrate the holidays with their families. ROBYN Promotions is proud to be a part of this effort.

You can read the story that ran in the Friday edition of the Daily Oklahoman here, but the bottom line is that Express has these workers ready to go (screened, tested and bonded) and will be cutting their fees in half to encourage businesses to put these folks to work this week.

ROBYN has two Express associates working in the warehouse this week to help our elves keep up with the influx of orders. We hope you can help, too!