Brand Scalability

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Increase or scaleCan you ramp it up?

When should you not think about it?

What’s the right time to contemplate scaling?

Why should you think about it?

How did you get into this business in the first place?

Let’s start with the last. Entrepreneurs start businesses for different reasons:

  • You couldn’t get hired…for a host of reasons.
  • You did an “apprenticeship” in a field and have new ideas to bring to it.
  • You want to build a humongous operation, sell out for a gazillion, retire and “live the good life.”
  • You want to change the world—one customer at a time.
  • You have an idea that you believe will solve a common problem.

No, that is not all the possibilities but they are the most common ones I hear. Usually it is some combination and that is what drives the discussion of scalability.

When not to think about it:

Do not think about it right out of the chute. Put any consideration off until you have sales. Until your idea begins generating revenue you don’t have anything to scale. Then, even when sales begin you may not have all you need in place.

So what is the right time?

When you have to. When you get to the point that the sales generation can be easily projected to require increases in staff and infrastructure. That is just before you can’t keep up, even with every one pulling double shifts to get things done. Look at what it going to take to get through this crush and the next and the next.

Start now to cast your gaze over all the possible ways technology can impact what you are doing now and in each of those futures. Understand that digital transformation is going to change the way every business works. For instance, I heard on the radio today about how Block Chain Technology is being applied to a neighborhood electricity grid in Brooklyn to allow users to trade credits the way big industrial customers used to on the corporate electrical grid.

Why should you think about it?

Your world is going to change. Keep pace with the technology and keep looking for ways to make your operation more competitive. If Amazon can use drones for delivery and UPS or FedEx can let you track your package from half a world away and the company that provides most of the music for Catholic churches downloads it to musician’s I-pads, then there is something in technology that will give you an edge.

Scale at least as much as it takes to stay even. You need the right resources to grow. Your business needs a certain number of customers to generate the revenues that make your life comfortable. If that is all you are looking for I suggest that you look hard at scaling because your needs will change, the market will change and you’ll wake up one morning and find you’ve been left behind.

Scale to meet the demand. Whether you got into business to solve a common problem or you want to change the world or a combination of the two, if what you have is so desired, the market will push you. You will find yourself pushed to hire more people, add to your footprint, take on more inventory, contract for new distribution and on and on.

Stop! Step back and look at where all that is leading. Hire the folks that can help you figure out the most efficient way to accomplish your objectives. Too often we find ourselves in the tunnel seeing the light there at the end. Then we realize that light is the train coming towards us. It is better to be a little late getting a product to a customer than to wreck the business.

Think about scaling to answer questions from investors.

Funding, not scaling, is the key concern. Currently I’m working with one start-up that is still “in the garage,” another that is “up and running” about to be hammered by a couple of big sales. Each has the same problem—funding. You need to be able to explain why you need the funds and what they will deliver for the investor whether you are talking to friends and family, angel investors or venture capitalists.

Jerry Fletcher, Speaking in olombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

 

 

What Color is your Brand?

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What color is your brandAre we talking product or personal?

Yes.

People associate color with everything.  Sometimes color has more impact than a symbol when it comes to establishing brand. Sometimes color is the reason someone buys one brand versus the other. It is always a part of the perception.

The choice of the primary color for your logo should not be left to chance.

How you are perceived over time is, in part, based on the color people associate with you. That may change from country to country. In America, the first preference is blue (35%) followed by green (16%), purple (10%) and red (9%) according to Wikipedia. There are similarities across cultures, too. Red is perceived by many cultures as strong and active.

How do you choose?

Test yourself.

  1. Get a simple set of crayons or markers that include these colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and violet. Markers may also include black.
  2. Is there a color not represented by the selection you would prefer, perhaps pink or brown?
  3. Pick the one color that you like best.
  4. Pick the one you would like to use as an accent.
  5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 based on what you think your prospects prefer.
  6. Test them on real prospects. Then decide which choices you are going to use.
  7. Implement and stick with it.

What the choices mean in North America:

POwer tieRed: Power, Excitement, Love, Lust often used for retail as it demands attention. Wearing a red suit is a turn on for both heterosexual men and women per Wikipedia. And for the less outgoing male it might explain the ascendancy of red ties.

Orange: Is a combination of Red and Yellow which includes elements of each and often is considered the color of negotiation and considered action. The beBee social media platform uses the color to the max combining the full orange of a call to action button with a honey yellow for the bee drawing.

Yellow: Conveys competence and happiness (and sometimes jealousy). Caterpillar made the color a trademark on the large equipment used in construction as it is visually easier to see and then built a logo that combines a simple triangle representing a bulldozer combined with the shortened name which most users call the company. Hertz used it to “put you in the driver’s seat.” And before Google we “let our fingers do the walking” through the Yellow Pages.

Green:  Generates a perception of good taste (and sometimes envy). Starbucks is an obvious choice to demonstrate the power of green. But John Deere has made another shade of green all their own painting all the farm equipment they manufacture in a color you can identify easily out in the fields

Blue: Tends to be seen as masculine, corporate, competent and high quality. Banks, like Chase, tend to use shades of blue from the deepest to the lightest hues. But sometimes combined with a light touch, a light blue can take on a different character. Think of Twitter.

Purple/Violet: Most Americans have difficulty identifying these two colors. Their perceptions are relatively clear however. Authority, Sophistication and Power is what they believe these colors reflect. Cadbury, the candy maker is considered an authority in making chocolate confections for sophisticated tastes. Hallmark, the greeting card company also has a purple logo.

There are four other colors that have become dominant in logotypes.

Pink: Is viewed as feminine, sophisticated and sincere. And the color is used to promote products to women from Barbie to Victoria’s Secret. But is also used to promote insulation that is pink and is the in your face shade of that small rabbit incessantly pounding a drum in commercials to demonstrate how long Energizer batteries last.

Brown: Rugged and Dependable. United Parcel Service (UPS) chose this color at least 50 years ago. I’m not sure they didn’t make people think this way about the color.

And don’t forget…

Black: Stands for sophisticated and expensive. It is also the color of fear and grief. Any person or organization that sells in the high end should think hard about using black as the primary color in their logo. It has been used by everyone from Coco Chanel to Mercedes to the Beatles to Air Jordan.

White: Happiness, Sincerity and Purity. Look in to apple ads and materials. They have made white a signature color.

What should you pick?

Find the color you are comfortable with that is acceptable to your clientele. Remember that the general perceptions of color are often overcome by time. Your choices should all be based on making you memorable and being simpatico with the actions you take that make you trustworthy. Good luck!

Jerry Fletcher, Speaking in olombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

 

 

Personal Brand Must Grow

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Personal BrandIf your personal brand doesn’t deepen over time you are doomed to failure.

I don’t mean that “Brand You” must change fundamentally.

I mean that you need to add to the essence.

People are like pearls.

Each of us rolls around in the years of our lives picking up layer upon layer of experience. Every day you undergo adds to the quintessential core that is you. Education. Jobs. Books. Travel. Practice. Winning. Losing. Trying. Failing. Simply living.

We all are seen differently.

Some become well rounded. Others, subjected to irregular times, not so much. But all of us become more seasoned over time. The depths of what we have done and seen and incorporated into our psyches are visible to those around us.

Those that knew you as a teen will either easily recognize you or see the essence wrapped in strata that has added to “Brand You.”

Do you want to be seen as a “Gem?”

Here are some things that will help:

  • Tell the truth about the big things. Sometimes a white lie is the right thing to do but on the key issues veracity rules.
  • Be genuine with everyone. You can’t “fake it until you make it.”
  • Agree to disagree but search out facts. You need to rub up against ideas that are different from yours in order to determine what works and what doesn’t.
  • Keep an open mind. The universe keeps changing and what we knew of it yesterday will have morphed into something else tomorrow. Never stop learning.
  • Have a helping hand. None of us make it alone. At some point on the journey you will have an opportunity to assist someone. Do it with no thought of recompense.

Where do you fit?

Are you like the grain of sand at the heart of the pearl? Are you the tiny seed rolling around getting educated? Perhaps you have progressed to your first career oriented job. Is it later for you? Can you make the transition to management? Do you long to be an entrepreneur? Or are you the Boss?

You will change. It’s up to you to become the treasure you might.

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

 

 

New World Networking

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New World NetworkingIt’s coming.

It started with Bit Coin.

Now there’s AirBnB, and Etsy and Task Rabbit.

Slowly but surely Block Chain Technology is edging out the Internet as we know it.

Here’s a great explanation of the technology:

https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology

This technology is the next step in the evolution of networking for business development.

Most people agree that people do business with folks they know, like and trust and that trust is based on reputation.

The more secure your reputation, the easier it is to get to trust.

This technology will make building a reputation and maintaining it easier but your brand will have to be carefully nurtured along the way.

Block Chain Technology is more secure than the server based internet. There is no central place a hacker can go to mess with your reputation. It is hosted by millions of computers, simultaneously.

Block Chain Technology is more up to date as it reconciles all transactions on all the stored blocks about every ten minutes. Your information is embedded and updated in the entire network not in a single place.

Block Chain Technology is more collaborative. The network operates on a user-to-user (or peer-to-peer) basis. An entire team can make changes in a document at the same time.

Block Chain Technology enables peer to peer payments.  You won’t have to go through an intermediary like Uber. OpenBazaar uses the technology to create a peer-to-peer eBay.

Block Chain Technology is transparent (nothing is hidden) and publicly accessible. Imagine if it were used for elections. Governance, even in the corporate world, could be managed in the block chain.

Block Chain Technology can protect your intellectual property. You could use smart contracts to protect copyright and automate the sale of your creative works online, eliminating the risk of file copying and redistribution.

Block Chain Technology will protect your reputation. Identity verification is critical to on-line transactions in the sharing economy. Applications currently in development will allow you to have a digital identity for you and your business deliverables that is secure well beyond what is currently available.

Are you ready for New World Networking?

Jerry Fletcher Keynote in ColombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

 

Your Brand is Your Secret Funnel Story

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Story FunnelYou can’t sell anything if they don’t buy your story.

You can talk at people until you are blue in the face and it won’t do any good.

You can “logic them” and “feature them” and even “benefit them” but your results will still be negative.

If your Web site or landing page starts with an “I” you are going to lose.

If you don’t make yourself memorable, communicate the problem you solve in their terms, tell them how you do it in their language and explain how to get your help in a couple minutes or less, you lose.

If you don’t make it easy for them every way you can, go back to your day job.

The secret is your story.

It makes no difference whether you are doing e-commerce for a product or a service. The distinction doesn’t matter.

Passion is what matters.

Why are you passionate about this thing you are selling? How did that happen? Want to bet that your experience is similar to other folks that might be interested? Have you watched someone’s eyes as you tell them the concerns you had about it? Have you noticed how they start nodding when you talk about how the change it made in you made you feel about yourself and your family? Have you noticed how you don’t have to sell but rather just take orders.

Your passion plus your story plus a formula.

Imagine you are in a room with a crowd of other folks that are entrepreneurial– consultants, coaches, professionals, guys and gals starting companies and people charged with launching a small company’s new product.

The speaker says:

Target “Are you the one that has to be sure that there is paying business in the pipeline? Do you find yourself looking for another place to network or a trade show to attend just to meet a few new prospects? Are you tired of waiting for leads from your web site or all the social media stuff they told you would work?

And even if it did isn’t that little voice in your ear saying things that make you doubt you’ll ever get this thing off the ground? Makes you feel like a failure that doesn’t take care of his family doesn’t it?

Ever wake up in the middle of the night worried about money to keep the business afloat and to be able to give your kids a college education?

We all know that people do business with people they know, like and trust.

Problem Would you say that your problem is building trust fast enough especially if your budget is zilch?

Guide I know what that’s like. I was the CEO of an ad agency dealing with national and international clients but my board and I agreed to disagree and I went from the corner office, the BMW and the expense account to a makeshift office in a spare bedroom.

I felt rejected. Put out to pasture. Trapped. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to pay the bills.

I knew that I could help the little guys, the small businesses that couldn’t afford a big agency. I knew I could help them do it without breaking the bank.

First I had to get to trust. I had to find a way to reach them without looking desperate. But I had more bills than money.

I resorted to asking those pearls of contacts I had to help me get some business.

I sent a letter to just 60 golfing buddies. Six responded. Two wished me luck. Two referred me to prospects. And two gave me engagements.

That was in 1990.

I’ve learned a lot along the way. The most important is this:

  • What you know is significant
  • Who you know is important
  • But the single most critical factor in building a business, a career or a life of joy is who trusts you.

You can do what I did.

I can show you how.

It’s called Marketing Without Money.

Would you like to hear more about that?”

Jerry Fletcher Keynote in ColombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

 

 

Brand is the Answer to So What?

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So WhatYou get out of college. I’m not a commodity, you think.

Want to bet?

“But I have this advanced degree I had to go to school what seems like forever to get.  I’ve got special initials behind my name. I’ve been accepted in some special groups.”

So what?

You get your first “real job” and discover that you do know some things and know how to do them without tripping over yourself or anyone else.

You say, “I’m pretty good at all the regular business software and I can write a report, a letter or an e-mail that will get read. If I can’t do something, I say so.”

So?

“I’ve been working my whole life… well most of it any way. I brokered desserts in grade school and then in high school I worked at a pizza place and I did some tutoring along with the pizza thing. Worked my way through College…at least part of it because the scholarships didn’t cover all of it.”

So what?

“I learned the value of money and what it takes to get to the place you want to be and how working at low paying jobs isn’t the way to get there. That’s why I went to College and why I studied business because that’s where the money is. I figured I could ladder some jobs in small to medium-sized companies and work my way up to the point where maybe I could get a piece of the action. I’ve been pretty consistent about how I operate regardless of the company. “

How’s that working for you?

“If I had it to do over again I’d go after more leadership positions in College, maybe even sooner. Working with people, being a manager is a set of skills I’m learning on the job. It is tough to get a team to pull together. Management is about getting people to get done what needs doing. Aside from the politics that’s how you get measured. I’m doing okay even though I won’t compromise my principles.”

Now What?

“There are people in the company that believe in me. They are sending me to some training. Frankly, I don’t know if I’m ready for it. Maybe they are seeing something I’m not.”

What are they seeing?

Honesty. Consistency. Integrity.

Those are key ingredients of Trust.

They are responding to your personal brand even though you did not set out to establish one.

A positive personal brand can make all the difference in your life.

Comprehension was just 30 seconds away.

When you took those 30 seconds to decide on working as a youngster.  You were beginning to build your personal brand.

Awareness was less than 30 seconds away.

Each time you moved to a more demanding position, once you thought it through and concluded that you could keep your persona intact, you built on your personal brand.

Acceptance is under 30 seconds away.

The fact that you still question your capabilities even after all you’ve been through tells me you want to be the best you can be and you are always evaluating.

Trust, the key to personal brand, is garnered 30 seconds at a time.

Deciding to work. Honing skills. Advancing. Managing. Standing tall through it all. 30 seconds plus another 30 seconds plus another until you have a life time.

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

Deja-vu Testing for On-line Success

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The Marketing lunch bunch“It’s not a new idea” Kate said, “So don’t try to take credit.”

Rick groaned, took another sip of wine and nodded. Then he rose to the bait saying, “I know I didn’t invent the idea but at least give me credit for figuring out how to apply it to the funnel hacking e-marketing world we live in.”

“So what brilliance did you come up with?” I asked.

“Daily déjà-vu of simultaneous synchronized multi-variant testing of multiple elements is my claim to fame,” he said.

Gail guffawed looked him in the eye and said, “What a mouthful! Rick, my boy you are brilliant at times but this is not one of them. You know as well as I do that direct marketing copy controls have been tested every which way you can imagine over the years and that something as simple as an A-B split test is so easy online that anyone that can afford the software or the service can get it done. So what are you claiming?”

Kate piled on noting, “And don’t try to pull that tale of having to dumb down your ideas of how to test that the programmers couldn’t figure out 10 or 15 years ago because Fletch was sitting beside you in that meeting you’ve told me and as I recall he’s the one that had to explain what an A-B split test was.”

Rick swished his wine in the glass, carefully set it down and replied, “You all would agree that we need to find out the relative importance of the offer, the list of people you are addressing and the approach. That principle is true of direct marketing, e-mail marketing, e-commerce stores/catalogs on-line or even a web site developed to begin a relationship for a professional service.

My approach takes the ability of the internet to produce quantifiable data quickly and the need to look a multiple components of the message to new levels. There are entrepreneurs out there right now that are pushing the envelope. They test everything. They find a control that works and then start testing to improve it. Sometimes as simple shift can increase ROI by hundreds of points.

What are you doing to make your web-based marketing activities more successful? Why not try tests of formatting, subject lines, subheads, arrangement of paragraphs, captions, descriptions, addition or deletion of photos and a host of other variables. There is hard data that shows that at least half of these have increased response levels.

The time to test what works for your business is right now. And tomorrow. And the day after.

Testing ought to be Deja-vu, over and over again.”

Jerry Fletcher weaves the tales of the Lunch Bunch based on his experiences in advertising, direct marketing, consulting and helping build entrepreneur businesses.

Jerry Fletcher KeynoteJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.
Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

5 Professional Speaking Secrets

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Jerry Fletcher Keynote

Jerry Fletcher Keynoting in Bogota, Columbia

I’m a professional Speaker. I’ve been an NSA (National Speakers Association) Member since 1993. I’m also a consultant. Before that I was CEO of an ad agency.

When people are looking to get into speaking, they get referred to me so they can, “pick my brain.”

Here’s what I tell them:

  1. This ain’t no picnic. When you see a great platform performance it looks so easy. You just stand up and “let ‘er rip. It’s not that way Bunkie. What you don’t see is the years of preparation to get to the level of expertise needed to really craft winning remarks. What you don’t see is the hours spent rehearsing and the days spent marketing to get those few brief shining moments.
  2. Go with your passion. Every Successful speaker I know is not only an expert in some area, they are passionate about it. Most have been known to speak on the topic even when they are not being paid. Their zeal comes through in a simple conversation or in a packed auditorium. It is the reason a meeting planner or program chair selects one speaker over another. It is obvious in a video a webinar or a phone call.
  3. Practice shameless self promotion. This is the hardest for most beginners and even some of the old pros. Until your speaking business (Yes it is a business) reaches a sustainable level you will probably be on your own. You won’t have an office manager to handle booking phone calls. You won’t have a full time marketing person. You will be the manager of sales, PR, Advertising and the Grand Poobah of all promotions. So you have to suck it up and do it yourself. The best advice I can offer is to emulate as much of the form of promotion used by successful speakers as you can. And never be afraid to ask them what works for them now as well as how they did it getting started.
  4. Maintain your expertise. Each day I check a full array of marketing information resources to see what is new, what is being commented on and what, if anything, is being injected into the conversation from the periphery. I look for hard data—-surveys, analytic summaries, data compilations, analyses, research reports and any non-statistical data cited as “proof of process” or standard practice. Then I step back to see how the new data fits with what I know. If a contrarian approach is warranted, I may blog about it or fit it into a speech.
  5. Never stop believing. Today a young man (an Army Officer) who wants to be a speaker was looking for advice. He noted that in the military he had been training people from the time he started as a private. He trained people at every rank he held as he rose from the ranks to be selected for Officer Candidate School. I told him his abilities would stand him in good stead as he moved toward a speaking career. In addition, I pointed out that the leadership skills he had developed and demonstrated would give him first hand knowledge and experience he could draw on in speaking about his passion: the impressive capabilities and practical skills that vets have to bring to industry. And I told him to never stop believing in himself, his comrades in arms, and the men and women of the companies and associations he will serve with pride as he has served his country.\

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com
His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

 

 

 

 

 

How to Build a Killer Brand

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How to Build a Killer Brand

Heart in sightsIt has been one of those months this week.

Planning. Candid conversations. Decisions to hire and fire. Web site assumptions and dialogues. Quality constraints and requirements. Analytics that spiral positive and those that went down in flames.

Brands suffer the impact because brand building is really not for innocents. Either you really understand marketing or you don’t.

Taking careful aim is at the heart of killer brand development.

What not to do.
Here are some mistakes I witnessed this week:

  1. Put a group of strangers in a room, brief them and expect them to walk out as a functioning collaborative team.
  2. Drop the ball on a project because of bad digital filing habits.
  3. Give a web developer 6 chances to respond to basic direction before deciding to fire him.
  4. Consider video approaches without looking at cost as part of the equation.
  5. Become ecstatic over an increased click through rate that didn’t generate sales.

The Killer Solution

Experience over the last 50 years tells me that to build a brand that captures hearts and minds successfully you have to understand how marketing professionals work in teams and their expectations of management. Clarity is what will make you successful.

Be perfectly clear that :

  • The owner/founder/CEO/President—the leader of any small firm owns the brand. Her or his understanding of the Vision, Mission, Position and Value Proposition is what will be applied to all organization communications.
  • Direction on any major project should be in writing and agreed to in advance. The directional document should be the reference point for approvals. Staff can provide additional information but is encouraged to do it before any work is done. If there is concern over the materials delivered the reference point is the direction.
  • A digital “paper trail” needs to be kept and used as the reference when anything goes sideways (as well as a way to assure continuing process improvement). With small clients I had eliminated my Action Reports on all meetings. I’m reversing that decision.
  • Budget, Quality and Outcome are interrelated. There are significant differences in delivery of digital capabilities, video production, and all communication vehicles based on what a firm is willing to pay, the level of excellence of the work and what the expectations of the item are. Too often, even though we have much better visibility of analytics the end results are not the key factor in evaluating marketing efforts.
  • Business Development objectives are the real measurements. Everything done in marketing needs to acknowledge contribution to the target numbers. Be as concrete as possible. For instance:
  • Optimize web site to make it as easy as possible for visitors to self-select the action which will give you a way to connect with them over the time to build a relationship leading to a “sale.” Track all actions. Track actual “sales” to determine the apparent customer journey.
  • Direct Social Media activities to continually tested landing pages that capture data to build relationships over time. Track actions by landing page. Track “sales” as with web site. Review results and test all contact activities to find the ones that lead to “Sales.”
  • Build better ongoing relationships with customers by monitoring opens, comments and direct contacts due to blog and newsletter postings. Modify content to take advantage of proven highest interest. Keep tracking.
  • Test automated sequences in support of direct sales staff. Monitor results.

Trial to buy ScorecardPost status versus your corporate goals on a scoreboard visible to all members of the firm.

Weekly results usually work best. Keep it simple: New info sign ups, New trials, New customers/clients.

Those few items will keep everyone in the game.

 

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

The Journey From Mad Man to Brand Poobah

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Two MartinisKen asked me over lunch, “Was it really like Mad Men back then?”

Let’s just say I have a little more mileage than he does. He wasn’t born when I went to New York. He was fascinated by my experiences in the era popularized by the TV Series Mad Men.

Yes, I was there. I climbed the stairs from the IRT stop and walked a short distance to the entrance to 420 Lexington and the Offices of J. Walter Thompson when it was the largest advertising agency in the world. I still have the brass medal every employee was awarded on the 100th anniversary of the company.

That job, for a boy reared in southwestern Ohio, was a real eye opener. Everybody smoked. Men. Women. Youngsters like me. I’d worked construction to pay for college and picked up the habit, Phillip Morris Commanders—strong like Camels but longer. The scent of tobacco was everywhere.

Working in the mail room I was too young and too low on the totem pole to participate in the sexual hijinks but then I had a sweetheart back in Ohio.

Naïve? Yes. Stupid? No. I figured if I couldn’t get in on the physical side of things I could learn the lingo so I became the confidante of secretaries and traffic girls. I wound up having those lovely creatures buy me drinks since they made more than me.

I lucked out after a while and wound up becoming a TV paste-up guy who put the storyboards together for presentation and that put me into contact with some heavy hitter art directors.

That lead to my first (and last) two martini lunch. Ted took pity on me and asked me to join him for lunch on him. We went to an Argentine place he frequented. The waiter never asked. A martini for each of us showed up and so I clinked glasses and tried not to react. I thought I was going to be okay and then a refill magically appeared.

Ever see one of those cartoon rabbits that seems to have no bones and slide out of a chair to the floor? That was me. I believe the correct term is Blotto.

Working there was a great way to learn that even though I was getting a degree in Advertising Design the art side of the business was not where the power was. I quickly decided that being an Account Man with heavy knowledge of the art side of the business was what I wanted to do. I was lucky. That was the time when boutiques were giving the old line agencies fits. Powerful creative was being done by the upstarts that are now considered to be icons of the industry. That paid off when I made the switch.

Back then they had open training for all employees over lunch and you could learn about all and any parts of the business. I took advantage of the opportunity and made some friends at the VP level who gave me great advice on how to cross the divide from the creative to the management side of the business.

Ken really stirred up the memories including the summer of New York World’s Fair. The Ford exhibit became a Disney ride. The IBM exhibit synced up a battery of 35mm projectors and a couple of movie projectors. I think that was my first experience with that whole idea of multi-media. Years later I would use the same techniques with original scores for multiple clients.

The mileage check version of how I got here is straightforward:

  • Get job interviews for account work at 42 ad agencies at their expense based on a direct mail letter. Take the position offered by Campbell Mithun Minneapolis.
  • Become the fireman (one of the guys that pulls troubled accounts back into the fold).
  • Work in multiple offices and win your spurs as a new business guy.
  • Decide to leave CM when the agency is purchased by a British Conglomerate.
  • Move to Portland and in time become CEO of the largest B2B agency.
  • Hang out a shingle as a solo when you and your board agree to disagree.

I seldom ever look back even though those were great times. It takes a trigger like hurtling down the mountainside from the Medellin airport in a cab with Don Pepper and learning how often we just barely missed crossing paths. But that’s another story…

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

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