Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

It’s All About Giving @IZEAFest

izeafest

Where do I begin? Izeafest was such an amazing experience, I feel like I could write 20 blog posts about it! The location, the sponsors, the speakers, the attendees… All just fabulous. I’m sure there are 100 or more blog posts by now that can give you the day to day details about people, give aways, etc.

What stuck with me, and what I ultimately decided to write about, was the unanimous theme of giving.

@WarrenWhitlock, @LizStrauss, @PRSarahEvans, @ChrisBrogan – they all spoke about being yourself and being true to who you are in your communications and commitments. Don’t take on more than you can handle, learn how to say no and don’t forget along the way to just be yourself. This is the hardest part about marketing; so many people are anxious to sell, sell, sell! I’ll admit, I am one of those. I tend to be so excited at the prospect of talking about JobShouts that sometimes I forget the most important part of marketing, which is just being me. If people know you, care about you, like you – they are more likely to want to help you. Help can come in the form of a referred business contact, a product purchase, flowers on a bad day – whatever! However, if you come across as nothing but a salesman people will avoid you like the plague. Besides, if you’re just yourself no one can “upsell” you. Make sense?

Diving even deeper into the “just be yourself” message, let’s talk about what you have to give. This is where the inspiration comes from – the opportunity to inspire others! @LizStrauss talked about how she is painfully shy – yet there she was on stage sharing her knowledge with us, despite that handicap. This was by far my biggest inspiration moment! Remember that promise I made to myself after my thyroid surgery? (read about that here) I will conquer my stage fright/fear because if she can do it, I can do it. I admire anyone that can conquer a paralyzing fear, so @LizStrauss inspired me just by sharing who she is. How do I pay that forward and inspire someone else? By just being myself and giving what I can, of course.

So how does this translate to social media and marketing?

First things first -don’t just plow right into your pitch. No one will be listening. As @ChrisBrogan so candidly said, “Don’t be a douchebag. Don’t be that guy.” What people will be listening to are things you say that they can identify with. Doesn’t matter if that audience is Twitter, Facebook, your social network on ning, etc. What is your industry? Offer some expertise. What is your personal struggle? Share your thoughts & perspective. Encourage engagement and people will engage. Stuff your product down their throat and they will run for the hills.

This is a hard lesson to learn for some (including me). However, I can confirm that the moment I stopped being “all about JobShouts” with my social networks and focused more on being just me, I gained an incredible audience. An audience of engaging, giving, wonderful people!  One thing is for sure, it doesn’t matter how big your audience is, it matters how many of them are actually listening.

P.S. Mad props & thanks to ALL of the sponsors, speakers & attendees of IZEAfest (and no one paid me to say that). I met some incredible people there that I can’t wait to learn more from!

Marketing #FAIL

There are products that as a woman I must purchase on a regular basis. Things like razors, tampons, makeup, hair products, etc. These things are what help keep me well groomed. (except tampons, those are unfortunately a necessity) What I’d like to know is, what woman in their right mind wants to spend the amount of money that most of these products charge? It’s insane.

Even more insane is the newest product I spotted in the supermarket today. Gillette now makes razors with a “freshly scented handle”. Are you kidding me? First they make them with 2 blades; then 3. When 3 apparently wasn’t enough they went to 4. Now there are razors with 5 blades. Come on, are we shaving or carving?  I don’t need a freshly scented handle and if I did then a razor would clearly be  the least of my worries. razor

Shaving isn’t rocket science. I don’t need 3 blades or a freshly scented handle. I don’t even need them to come in pretty colors. What I really need is for them to be more affordable. Especially with the current economy, Gillette should be more cognizant of the cost of their products. Paying $10 for 2 razors is unacceptable, especially when they only last a week or 2. I’m not a freaking money fountain. I have long thought that these companies overcharge for products that women need, simply because they know we have to buy them.  Why are tampons $7 a box? It’s cotton and cardboard, people!

Marketing has gone overboard. Who’s the genius at Gillette that thought up freshly scented handles on razors? Fire that person, it might make my razors cheaper. Good grief.

How Cold Calling Can Influence Your Job Search

dscn2595-avatarAs an IT recruiter for more than 15 years, I’ve experienced my share of employment panic. During the dot com bust I found myself laid off after more than 2 years of loyal and productive service for my employer at the time. I looked for any opportunity I was qualified for; we were definitely a 2 income family . In a panic, I accepted a position with a local staffing firm whose specialty was not IT or even professional level staffing. They specialized in clerical, light industrial and a smidgen of Accounting; and because it was a franchise, we were limited to servicing only a small area. I accepted a salary much lower than what I had been accustomed to, knowing my options were limited (and thankful to have gainful employment).

Tampa is a highly competitive market for staffing at all levels. Quite frankly, it’s pretty saturated.  When I joined my new employer in the beginning of 2002, I was tasked with developing IT business for their firm. It was an uphill battle in a time of cutbacks and because my available sales territory was so small, I was forced to take some extreme measures to bring in business and secure my position.

About 1 month into my new position, I learned I was pregnant.

It was an exciting discovery but also a terrifying one. What if I failed to do what I was hired to do and lost my job? Business was scarce and I was fighting wildly for the scraps. I knew there was a chance I could lose my job and what then? Who was going to hire a pregnant woman in a down recruiting economy?

8 months later, the fight was getting even harder. Business was so bad that one morning I put on my most professional maternity attire, donned my most comfy shoes and picked a nice tall building downtown armed with business cards.  Cold calling to the extreme!  I started my rounds on the 2nd floor; visiting a couple of offices where I got polite “no thank you’s”. What happened next changed my entire perception of cold calling in an instant.shaking_hands

When I walked in the door of Suite 250, I wasn’t sure what the line of business was but it didn’t matter. I hadn’t gotten enough “no’s” yet to be discouraged, so in I went!  There was a gentleman behind front desk obviously looking for something – who greeted me.  I quickly introduced myself and handed him a business card. I explained our services as quickly and briefly as I could, prepared for my “no thanks” response so I could move on to the next office.

He paused, looking at my business card and said: “I’m not interested in your services, but I am interested in you.“  He reached into his pocket and took out his business card, handing it to me. He said, “Let’s set up a time to talk further, I’d like to talk to you about an opportunity here with our firm.” I looked down at his business card – he was the President of the company!  Turns out I was in the office of a national IT Consulting firm – which was more in line with my career experience. He was so impressed with my tenacity and willingness to cold call (even while pregnant) that he wanted me on his team.

Long story short, I was offered a job 2 days later – pregnancy and all.

After some consideration, I held off on joining that company until after my daughter was born – but I did take the offer! I spent 5 great years with that team and have no regrets. In fact, it was a significant turning point and learning experience for me in my career.

Now, imagine if I hadn’t gone cold calling that day. Imagine if I’d chickened out, as I wanted to do. Cold calling isn’t a fun activity, with this I can agree. You have to pick a day when you aren’t feeling down or sorry for yourself and give yourself a good pep talk (or three).  The point is, you never know who you might encounter by chance that is going to be interested in you.  Social media with all it’s worth can’t create those kinds of connections for you. Only fate and a little bit of guts, can.

So get out there! Take a chance! Who will you meet? One thing is for sure, if you keep sitting there you aren’t going to find out.

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